From the Fire I Breathe
by Vhaenya
Summary: He curses at his superiors for even offering this job to him. Hawks wonders if he will be able to even pull off this whole double agent thing. Or maybe he should just buy a one way plane ticket to Hawai'i and live out the rest of his days lounging lazily on white sand beaches with a nice cold glass of mai tai. First part of The Phoenix Rising Chronicles
1. Chapter 1

Hawks just could not believe his eyes, and even if by some small chance he _could_ believe, he would just outright refuse to. Yet, here he is standing in his living room with none other than Dabi standing in front of him with a cold and unreadable icy gaze.

"No." Hawks crosses his arms and glares back at the man, "No way in _hell_ ; don't you live at that bar with the rest of your friends or something?" Dabi says nothing for a long moment and lets out a huff.

"Shigaraki wants someone to watch you. Unfortunately I drew the short straw and got stuck on babysitting duty now."

"Babysitting?! I don't need-" Dabi closes the distance between the two of them and stands over Hawks. Hawks instinctively backs up and balls up his fists as he stares up at the disfigured man.

"Frankly, I don't give a fuck on what you think you need or not. We just got to make sure that you can be trusted," Dabi's turquoise eyes seemingly pierce into Hawk's soul, "So just stop bitching."

"I don't bitch!" That draws out a low chuckle from Hawks apparently new housemate. "One of us is probably gonna end up killing the other, y'know." Dabi smirks.

"Then perish," He shoulders past Hawks and makes his way to the kitchen. "Makes my job a hell of a lot easier."

This whole predicament however, makes Hawks' own job a hell of a lot harder and with a sinking feeling, he wonders if he will be able to even pull off this whole double agent thing. Or maybe he should just buy a one way plane ticket to Hawai'i and live out the rest of his days lounging lazily on white sand beaches with a nice cold glass of mai tai.

* * *

The smell of smoke stirs Hawks from sleep and cracks his eyes open with a grumble. In the dark, he spies the steady glow of a cigarette's cherry and he scrunches up his nose.

"Dude, I have a balcony for that shit. I'm not gonna get my damn down deposit back if my apartment smells like fucking cigarette smoke." Whether on purpose or not, but Hawks is putting his lost down deposit on the former, a waft of smoke is blown towards him.

"It's too cold out." Hawks reaches over and turns the lamp on, glaring over at Dabi. Dabi is casually sprawled across the sofa, as if he owns the place, and takes another hit from the cigarette. He leans his head back and blows rings with the smoke, ignoring Hawks' annoyed huffs.

"You literally have a fire quirk! I'm sure that you could keep yourself warm out there." Dabi side glances Hawks and rolls his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I could also set the whole building on fire too." He replies nonchalantly, as if he was just talking about the weather instead of committing a massive act of arson. Hawks ruffles his feathers irritably.

"Dude."

"Point is, I don't want to go outside. It's cold and I'm comfortable. Deal with it." With a final intake of the cigarette and another puff of smoke blown his way, Dabi reaches over and extinguishes it against the wall.

"Are you for real right now?! You are literally the biggest insufferable prick I've ever had the misfortune to meet!"

"Hey, I don't got time for that bullshit."

"You obviously must have enough time to smoke and- for fuck's sake!" He spies multiple marks on the wall from previous extinguished cigarettes, "You've been here for not even a full twenty-four hours and you've already marking up my apartment!"

"I'm building character for your apartment. It's called art, look it up."

"I can't believe you." Hawks feels Dabi's smug gaze as he walks to the bathroom. He briefly wonders if this is how a bird feels before the cat pounces and he shudders at the thought. There was just something about his self proclaimed roommate that screams predatory. Hawks came to that conclusion the first time they met and he didn't like that hungry look in his eyes then and he sure as hell doesn't like it now. He curses at his superiors for even offering this job to him, didn't they know how dangerous it was to play with fire?

* * *

Adjusting to having a villain living with him was something that Hawks never really thought he would have to prepare for. If he were to be honest, he's thankful enough that it's Dabi and not someone with a yandere overdrive such as Himiko or that odd Deadpool knock-off, Twice. At least most times, Dabi is either out doing whatever heinous crimes he feels like or he's on the sofa smoking and lazily flipping through channels.

In an odd sort of way, they fell into a rhythm of dealing with each other. Both know the other is unhappy with the situation and maybe that's what started their competition to see how much they can drive the other up the wall. Figuratively of course, Hawks tells himself that he would never even try to touch the fiery man with a ten foot pole.

* * *

It was just one of those days where Hawks wish he never crawled out of bed to begin with. After dealing with a particular irritating capture at work, all Hawks is looking towards is flopping down on his bed and sleeping until the end of time. He stumbles into his kitchen, trying to ignore the throbbing of his headache and the restricted vision from a swollen eye. Hawks flings open the fridge and blindly feels for the milk. Nothing sounds better than some Oreos and milk to him right now.

He pauses.

Eyeing the milk carton he then shakes it slightly. Nary a sound of swishing milk. His hands curl and crush the empty milk carton. How can he enjoy his Oreos without milk? that would be like eating a peanut butter jelly sandwich without the peanut butter. Or eating buffalo wings without the chicken. Hawks slams the milk container into the trash and curses Dabi.

If it's a war Dabi wants, a war is exactly what he will get.

* * *

They sit in silence as Hawks drives to a grocery store. Who knew that for such a lithe man, that Dabi had a never ending hunger. Hawks briefly wonders if this is how it felt to be harassed by a plague of locusts. He grits his teeth, driving is supposed to be Hawks' time to unwind and jam out to his music. Unfortunately, Dabi has way different taste in music than him and had the audacity to try to switch his radio station. If Hawks can't listen to some classic Snoop Dogg, then Dabi sure as hell can't listen to Dir en Grey. They settled on driving in awkward silence instead.

He side glances Dabi and narrows his eyes, despite him telling Dabi to put on his seat belt, he still sits with a smug smirk as he scrolls through his phone.

"So why do you need to come with me to the mart?" Without even looking up from his phone replies back in a bored and monotone voice.

"How many times do I gotta tell you? I'm stuck babysitting you."

"What do you think I'm going to do? Cry to the hero agency that you're harassing me?"

"You do cry a lot." Hawks slams his hands against his steering wheel and looks over at him with disbelief.

"I do _not_ cry!"

"I've seen you watch Lion King. You totally cried." Dabi snorts and tries to hide a grin.

"It was sad!"

"It was fucking stupid."

No one insults the Lion King to Hawks' face.

No one.

Without warning, Hawks slams down on the breaks and watches in smug satisfaction as Dabi lurches forward and smashes his face against the dashboard.

"What the fuck?!" Dabi pulls back from the dashboard and glowers over at Hawks as he holds his nose, "The hell was that for?" Hawks shrugs.

"Break check. Sometimes my breaks act up and gotta make sure they're working." It was a lame lie, Hawks admits. Dabi narrows his eyes at Hawks before picking up his phone from underneath his seat.

"Get that shit fixed then, god damn." He grumbles as he reaches for the seat belt and Hawks tries to stifle his laughter.

"I warned you bro." Dabi glares at him again and shakes his head.

"Don't."

"Don't what?" Hawks asks innocently. He turns his attention back to the road but can still feel a hole being burned into the side of his head from Dabi's gaze.

* * *

One thing that really ruffles Hawks' feathers is how Dabi puts in a new roll of toilet paper. Why on earth would someone put it in the wrong way? No matter how many times he flips the toilet paper to the right way, the next time he uses it, it's flipped back the wrong direction. Hawks sees red as he flips the roll back the right way. He'll get Dabi back, patience is key.

His patience is rewarded early in the morning. He stirs awake from the cracking of Dabi's joints as he gets up from the sofa and makes his way to the bathroom. Hawks rubs the sleep from his eyes and stretches, enjoying his peace.

Then he hears a splash of water and a started yelp.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Hawks chuckles to himself and turns over in his bed, quickly falling back asleep to the muffled curses from Dabi.

Living with a villain certainly isn't on Hawks' to do list but he might as well entertain himself by driving Dabi insane. After all, Dabi was the one that started this. As the saying goes- if you mess with the bull, you get the horns.

And Hawks is just getting warmed up.

* * *

Author's Note

Guess who got thrown into the hotwings train?

I wasn't sure if I was even going to get this story out tonight, I kept getting distracted. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, there's just something about them acting like little shits towards each other that keeps making me want to write more. Besides that, nothing much to update on. Until then, fairwinds.

Comments are always welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

"I trust that you are making progress on your mission?" Hawks sits across from his boss, who leans across his mahogany desk and his arms crossed loosely across his chest. Hawks scratches the back of his neck and yawns lazily as he props his feet up on the desk.

"I'd appreciate if you'd take your feet off of my desk. This is mahogany." Hawks doesn't move for a moment and then begrudgingly moves his feet back to the floor, "Now, please," His boss spreads his hands and offers him a slight smile. Not a smile that Hawks likes seeing, he's always detested those fake managerial smiles. "Do you have your progress report with you?" Hawks picks absently at the edge of his gloves before taking out a thin file.

"I was expecting something a little more worth my time, Hawks." The fake smile falls and a wrinkle appears between his boss's eyebrows as they knit together in disappointment.

Hawks resists the urge to lean across the desk and poke it. It's a deep wrinkle, a wrinkle that he's all too familiar looking at.

"Well, ya know. Not like I can just waltz up in there like 'what up my dudes?' and be part of the pack from day one."

"It's been a month." Hawks tosses the file to his boss and stands up.

"And? The League of Villains aren't stupid. They're not just going to blindingly trust the number two hero, renegade or not, in just a month. This mission is gonna to take time." His boss says nothing as he picks up the file and skims over it with an unreadable expression. That damn wrinkle deepens though and Hawks can't take his eyes away from that. Fascinating, he thinks to himself, it's so ugly.

"I expect that next week you will have made more progress than just this. I'm disappointed in you, Hawks. I expected a lot more out of you."

"Look, I'm not a miracle worker here. They're a lot more diligent than you give them credit for. If I try to rush this- this whole operation will be blown over," Hawks pauses, "And you'd probably be on the lookout for a new number two hero too. Because I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to make sure I disappeared." Just thinking back to Shigaraki terrifying quirk makes him feel sick to his stomach. Hawks stares down into his boss's eyes as neither speak for a long moment. His boss sighs and rubs a hand over his face, hiding his unsightly wrinkle from Hawks' view; much to his relief.

"Just do your job, you're not there to make friends." Hawks can't help but to bark out a laugh.

"If you want me to do my damn job, I gotta be chummy with 'em. Trust me. I got this." He turns away from his boss and walks out the door. Not entirely sure if he got this or not.

* * *

From the moment he strolled out of the building, the back of his neck prickles. Ah, there's that familiar sense of being followed. Hawks knew that something felt off back up in the agency building. It was the missing presence of his still unwelcome, delinquent room mate.

Hawks pushes forward and ignores the feeling. He won't lie to himself though, he's slightly impressed that the villain pushed this far into Hawks' own territory. The thought of what chaos could ensue if Dabi was caught this close makes him shudder. Knowing Dabi, he definitely wouldn't go down without a bang.

Their footsteps fall into sync as Hawks turns down an empty alley, he knows that Dabi will want an update and there's no use in making the man wait. As much as he likes driving Dabi to the brink of insanity, he has better things to do right now. Like take his lunch break.

Preferably alone.

"What did you tell him?" The deep baritone voice all but whispers from behind him. Hawks turns around and clicks his tongue.

"Exactly what I told you what I would say." Dabi narrows his eyes and Hawks lets out an exasperated sigh, "Jesus, dude. If I had said anything, don't you think that there would be a a whole shit load of heroes and police swarming around here right about now? I ain't the snitch." Dabi takes a step closer and bares his teeth.

"And what does that mean?" Hawks drums his fingers together and lets out a chuckle.

"Y'know. Snitches get stitches," Dabi remains quiet- turquoise eyes glaring holes into Hawks' head, "...and between the two of us... I'm not the one with the stitches." Dabi shakes his head and a bright blue light flares up between the two men. He holds a hand up to Hawks, the blue flames lick up and down his slender fingers and Hawks swallows down his sly grin.

A bead of sweat runs down his face, he's never been this close to Dabi's fire and never really thought about how hot his fire can get. After working with Endeavor for the better part of the year, he thought he would be used to fire. It seems that Endeavor's fire has nothing on the sweltering heat of Dabi's flames.

"Be careful where you fly little bird." Dabi leans in closer- bringing his flaming hand with him, "It would be such a shame to see those wings of yours burn." Hawks pushes Dabi's hand away and scoffs.

"Please, I have valuable information. You couldn't burn me without getting burnt yourself."

"I was the one that got you in and I can take you right back the fuck out and no one would even bat an eye. So by all means, take one step outta line," Dabi's eyes seem to glow in the dim light of the alley, "Because I won't hesitate." Dabi takes a step away from Hawks and starts to walk out of the alley.

"Oh and one more thing," He shouts over his shoulder, "Don't disappoint me." Dabi melts into the shadows, leaving Hawks alone in the quiet alley. He sighs and makes his way back to the street, not feeling very hungry anymore.

"Seems that I'll be disappointing a shit ton of people in the foreseeable future, huh?"

* * *

"Oh my god." Hawks stifles a nervous giggle, "Today is going to be the day I actually die. Holy shit." He stares down at the laundry in front of him. Between the meeting with his boss and Dabi's threat, he hadn't paid attention to the laundry and it seems that some of Dabi's white shirts wormed their way into the washer with Hawks' red ones.

"Welp, it's been a good one."

"What has?" There's that voice again. Hawks curses himself, he hadn't even heard the front door open. He takes in a deep breath and turns around, startled at how close the villain is to him.

Too close for comfort.

"Uh, well you see-" He holds up one of Dabi's soaking and newly stained pink shirt, "Seems that there happened to be a mix up in the laundry!" Dabi says nothing as his eyes shift from his shirt to Hawks and then back to the shirt.

"Really? I doubt it was an accident." Despite keeping his tone flat, Hawks can still pick up a twinge of irritability.

"Yes, Dabi, it was an accident I'm-" Hawks stops mid-sentence, suddenly remembering back to when Dabi started extinguish his cigarettes on his walls. A frown tugs at his mouth for a brief second before he smirks back at the taller man, "Actually, you know what, my man? Maybe this will build character for you." Dabi says nothing as Hawks shoves the wet shirt at him, quirking an eyebrow. "It's called fashion, Dabi, look it up." He pushes past Dabi and in the corner of his eye, he swears he sees a ghost of a smile playing upon Dabi's lips.

* * *

As the week passes, Dabi and Hawks find themselves squabbling over petty issues. Both men seem to still be ill at ease in each other's presence, there's just not enough room for two people to be living in Hawks' cozy studio apartment.

Every morning starts the same with Dabi complaining about how shitty his sofa is and in return Hawks complains about how shitty Dabi is for throwing off his groove. They'll eat breakfast in silence, occasionally making jabs at each other. Then both leave for work. Dabi heads out to do whatever evil villains do on a typical weekday and Hawks out to his agency to put a stop to villains.

Ironic that he's now living with one Japan's most wanted villains.

The day will end with one of them stumbling home before the other to attempt to make something that resembles a dinner. Neither men are good cooks and oftentimes they settle for take out instead. Hawks always tries to make it home first, he still doesn't trust Dabi in the kitchen. Not after he tried to cook rice.

With his own quirk.

After dinner, they'll fight over who gets control over Netflix. In Hawks' opinion, since he pays for it, he should have full control. Dabi counters that argument that he's technically a guest and should be treated as such.

Even though Hawks never invited him to live in his too small apartment. Not a guest in Hawks' books.

Eventually it'll be time to head to bed. Hawks always tries to make it to the shower first because Dabi had a nasty habit of not only taking super long showers but also using up all of his hot water.

One time during one of Dabi's infamous hour long boiling hot showers, Hawks got so tired of waiting that he just sneaked into the bathroom and flushed the toilet. Who knew that Dabi could be a falsetto? Since then, both always double checked to ensure that the bathroom is securely locked.

* * *

Today's luck was just not on Hawks' side. At all. With an earthquake early in the morning, he was called out to assist in evacuations and rescues before the sun even rose. Working hard all day under the blistering cold winds is not something that Hawks enjoys at all.

When the day finally ends, all that's left of his wings are baby down feathers. Not being able to fly back to his apartment, he opts out to take the train instead. He tunes out the world as he plugs in his headphones and closes his eyes. Trying to ignore the aching of his muscles.

Of course he ends up falling asleep and misses his stop. Because that's just how it is in this bitch of an earth. Having to wait for the train to make its rounds all over again to his stop, he checks his phone and lets out a groan.

"This is just not my day today."

He knows that Dabi will be home by now.

Hopefully his apartment building won't be up in azure flames. But knowing his luck today, he wouldn't be surprised.

* * *

What does surprise him isn't the fact that his apartment is intact for another day. Hawks stops at his doorway, the smell of a familiar food hits him like a ton of bricks.

Could it be?

He opens the door and peeks into his apartment. Waiting at the table is Dabi and in front of him sits a large bag of his confirmed suspicious.

KFC.

Dabi says nothing as Hawks shuffles into the apartment, shrugging off his aviator jacket. Dabi still says nothing as Hawks slowly shuffles to the table, he does smile though. A smile that, Hawks notes, is genuine.

"What's up Chicken Little? Here I thought you abandoned your shitty apartment."

"I'm not Chicken Little. He's dumb and a coward," Hawks snaps as he stares down at the bag of KFC. "What is this?" Dabi rests his hands behind his head and his smile grows wider when his eyes flicker to the small wings poking from behind Hawks. He ignores Dabi's smile and wandering gaze as the tantalizing smell of fried chicken makes Hawks' mouth water and stomach grumble. He was so busy with evacuations, that he hadn't had the chance to eat all day.

"I figured with the earthquake, I should be nice enough and get you some dinner."

"Since when did you care about whether or not I had a rough day? Don't you usually go out of your way to make my life miserable?" Hawks sits down on the chair and slowly grabs the bag between them. Dabi pretends to look hurt.

"Is that any way for a hero to talk to his room mate?" Hawks mumbles out a thanks as he grabs the bucket out from the bag and opens it. The smell gets stronger and Hawks resists the urge to break down into tears of joy. All he wants is to curl up in bed and eat the whole bucket of chicken and fall into a food coma. Grabbing a chicken wing from the bucket, he studies it for a second. Remembering who got him the food in the first place.

It looks like chicken and it sure as hell smells like chicken. Who knew that Dabi could be nice when he wanted to?

He takes a bite of the heavenly smelling chicken wing and something immediately feels wrong. Chicken isn't supposed to be this soft. He spits out the chicken into a napkin.

"Tofu?! Really?" He splutters and glares up at the man opposite of him. Dabi starts to chuckle.

"Yeah. Aren't you half chicken or something? Pretty sure cannibalism is frowned upon in the hero world."

"I'm not half chicken! For fuck's sake! I can't believe you!" Dabi pushes up from his chair, still smiling.  
"You're right. It's too fun to make your life miserable." He flops down on the sofa and turns on Hawks' PlayStation. Hawks doesn't know whether to scream or cry. So instead, he opts out to throw the bucket of Kentucky Fried Tofu at Dabi. The tofu explodes at the touch of Dabi's quirk and they watch in unbelieving silence as tofu rains down on the sofa.

Dabi turns towards Hawks and threads his fingers through his black hair, shaking tofu bits from his hair.

"I'm not cleaning this up." Hawks marches up to him and points a finger at him.

" _Yes_ you are."

"You're the one that decided to act like a little kid and throw food around the apartment like some sorta fucking monkey. You can clean this up while I take a shower."

Like Hawks said, it's not his day. He starts to pick up the pieces of incinerated tofu from the sofa as the bathroom door clicks shut. The sound of the lock turning in place fills the quiet apartment before the shower starts up.

* * *

Author's Note

Okay, I know that Dabi doesn't have stitches and they're more like staples but shhh, let me have this one thing in life. I'm excited for the next chapter though, The League of Villains will be making an appearance and it's going to be fun writing them! Until then, fairwinds.

Comments are always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

"Shove over." Hawks looks up from him phone and nearly drops it on his face in surprise. There stands Dabi in a pair of baggy sweats and a tight black tank top. Water drips down from his dark hair and runs down his shoulders.

"What?" Dabi pushes Hawks' wings over and falls into the bed, "Uh, what the fuck are you doing?" Dabi's back is turned to him, Hawks isn't sure if maybe it's because how closely together they're squashed in Hawks' humble double sized bed or maybe because he's never taken the time to really take a look at his fiery room mate, but for the first time Hawks notices the broad expanse of Dabi's shoulders. Or the gradual dip in his torso that tapers off to his hips, hidden from beneath blankets. Hawks certainly doesn't catch himself staring at the strip of smooth and pale skin peeking out from between Dabi's tank top and sweat pants. He adverts his gaze and shifts over closer to the wall, allowing more wing room for himself.

"Your sofa reeks of grease."

"Well I wonder why." Dabi flips over on his back, still not looking at Hawks and instead focuses his glare at the ceiling. Water droplets roll off of his hair and collects in the pillow Dabi stole.

"Has anyone ever told you that your sarcasm sucks?" Hawks fluffs his feathers in annoyance and scowls at him.

"My sarcasm is a gift." He hears a snort and a mumbled reply all too quiet for Hawks to pick up.

"What?" Dabi's answer remains silent and just to annoy the man, Hawks stretches out his wings, letting a few of his feathers whap across Dabi's scarred face. Dabi grabs a handful of his feathers and pushes them away.

"Will you fucking stop?" He finally turns his head and glowers over at Hawks, his aqua eyes flash with anger. Hawks bats his own eyes and smiles.

"Well, clearly this bed ain't big enough for the both of us, compadre. Maybe you should go back to the sofa, yeah?"

"No." Dabi growls out, "I don't want to wake up in the morning and have damn acne from all that shitty grease." Hawks remains quiet for a heartbeat.

"I mean, maybe acne would be an improvement for your face... Wait, can you even get acne on your scars? Are they even scars?" Dabi narrows his eyes at Hawks and turns to his side again.

"Shut the fuck up. Don't test my patience, chickenshit."

"Oooh, chickenshit. I _never_ heard that one before." Hawks grumbles to himself before turning his attention back to his phone.

* * *

A small tug on his pant leg draws Hawks' attention. He pulls his headphones away and looks down, a small boy with wide and innocent eyes stares back up at him with awe.

"Mister, your wings are so cool!" He feels himself smile and bends down to match the young boy's height.

"Thanks! They are pretty cool aren't they?" He spreads them out to their full length, both of them watch as his shadow stretches far across the sidewalk. The boy jumps up and down, nodding excitedly. A tail from behind him thrashes from side to side. When he laughs, Hawks spies a row of sharp and pointed teeth, some of them missing. Kid must be around four or five Hawks guesses.

"They're so red! That's my favorite color you know?!" Hawks laughs and ruffles his hair.

"Oh really? That's my favorite color too!" For Hawks, the color red symbolizes a new beginning like the sunrise on a clear morning. How can someone be down in the dumps when looking upon such a bold and strong color such as red? Red thrives off of energy, it's a radiant color that shouts from the top of buildings "This is me! I am here and I'm ready to kick ass!" The kid's mom notices her son and quickly apologizes to Hawks as she bows and flushes when she realizes who he is.

Hawks thinks to himself about what he would give to be out of the Top Ten spotlight as he reassures her that everything is okay. He watches them walk away, the young boy turns around and waves, Hawks laughs and waves back.

* * *

Most of his patrols consists of being stopped by fans, he's since grown used to being asked to partake in selfies and autographs and idle chit chat. He's always enjoyed the extra attention, Hawks actually thrives off the attention of his adoring mass of fans and he doesn't even mind the army of reporters that follow him, like moths to a streetlamp.

He knows that they have a job to do and he can respect that. Everyone has to find a way to put food on the table somehow. Even if that means being annoying and following other people just trying to do their own respective jobs. Nonetheless, he still makes sure to find time to joke around with them. How he's seen other heroes treat them, just doesn't feel right for Hawks. Heroes have managed to get as popular as they are because of press and fans.

Not saying that the press is completely innocent.

Quite the contrary in fact. He's still salty over his latest "scandal". Now he can't even take his good friend, Mirko, out to eat at their favorite overly greasy and unbelievably cheap fast food stand without having the paparazzi stomp around demanding about how long have they been dating and if they plan on being engaged anytime soon.

Or the time before that when he was caught with a cigarette and a reporter had the gall to ask "Is that a weed?" and then pepper him with questions- threatening to call the police if he refused to answer the questions. Of course the next day, he was featured in the front of all the major newspapers with titles as ridiculous as "T _he Mile High Hero: Hawks! Exclusive interview on pg. 4!_ " Hawks actually has to admit that he got a kick out of that one, even if that's not what mile high really meant. His manager, sadly, hadn't found it as funny. If you ask Hawks, it seems that reporters these days are losing their creative spark. Shame really.

"Oh my god! It's Hawks! Can we get a selfie with you? We love you _so_ much!" Hawks shakes his thoughts away and turns around to see a gaggle of giggling young women, all with their phones out and full of smiles and blushes. He smiles back and agrees.

Just another day in the life of being the Number Two Hero.

* * *

"So is this what heroes do all day?" Hawks lowers his waving hand and frowns, turning around he spies Dabi leaning nonchalantly against a brick wall of a building. He's wearing a surgical mask and a scarf thrown over his trench coat but there's no mistaking it's him with his signature bored drawl and the glint of his turquoise eyes. Hawks takes a few casual steps towards him.

"Is this what villains do all day? Stalking heroes?" Dabi snorts and rolls his eyes, pushing away from the wall. He nods his head in the direction of the alley and Hawks lets out a sigh as he follows the villain.

Once they've made enough twists and turns through dark alleyways that would make anyone's head spin, Dabi stops and faces Hawks. He pulls the surgical mask down and over his chin and studies Hawks with his striking eyes.

"Shigaraki wants a meeting with you today. I've come to take you there."

"Aww, and here I thought you were taking me to lunch," Hawks looks around, "To that lovely dumpster for two over there." Dabi says nothing for a moment and Hawks mentally kicks himself in the ass, why oh why was he cursed with no brain to mouth filter? He deduces that the world may never know that answer.

"If you're that hungry..." He offers Hawks a sneer, his surgical staples glinting off of the sunlight, "I've seen your filthy eating habits, I'm sure the dumpster would be a five star restaurant for you."

"Wow! Rude!" Dabi takes out his phone and sends off a quick text, within seconds a dark swirling vortex appears from behind Dabi. Hawks swallows nervously as he stares into it, too captivated by the dark purples. His daze is broken as Dabi snaps his fingers.

"We don't got all day. Come on." Hawks continues to watch the mist and doesn't move. Dabi crosses his arms and cocks his head to the side, eyebrow rising in curiosity.

"Don't tell me that the great Number Two Hero is scared of a little warp gate?" Hawks' silence makes Dabi grin, "Well I'll be damned." He makes his way around Hawks and stands behind him. Two hands rest on top of Hawks' shoulders as Dabi leans down, the smell of bonfires during a warm summer night and a hint of stale tobacco smoke fills Hawks' nose.

"Nothing to be afraid of little hero." Dabi's deep voice murmurs into his ear with a small chuckle before roughly pushing him into the warp gate.

* * *

He falls on his ass in the middle of a bar, Hawks hears a girl giggle from somewhere behind him and he picks himself up as Dabi lazily steps through the gate. Dabi barely glances down, "Smooth landing. I thought all little birds were supposed to be good at their landings." He snickers as he walks past him.

"Well normally _little birds_ aren't thrown into a fucking warp gate!" Hawks mutters as he brushes the dust from his pants.

"Stop being so over dramatic. No one was thrown through the damn warp gate. You won't be getting a pity party here so just shaddup." Hawks looks around the bar and sees a couple of familiar faces. He recognizes Toga and Twice sitting together at one table, both intently watching him while whispering to each other. He sees an overgrown lizard and a curious masked man in a top hat playing some sort of card game. Dabi is sitting at one of the bar stools chatting idly with Kurogiri. Besides that small handful of villains, no one else is in the room, Hawks clears his throat.

"Thought I was here for a meeting?" Kurogiri doesn't look up from the cup he's polishing and lets him know that Shigaraki currently predisposed and will be arriving any moment now and that he should make himself at home. Easier said than done, Hawks thinks to himself begrudgingly.

"Hey! Bird man!" A gruff voice cuts through the room and he hears another giggle from Toga, "Over here, I don't think that we had the chance to meet yet." He sees the lizard waving him over and he obliges.

"You and me will get along juuuust fine, yeah? You a bird, me a lizard. Hell, we're like two peas in a pod!" He laughs and slams down his drink. Hawks joins in with the laughter and takes a seat.

"Hell yeah my dude. We gotta stick together against these boring humans." The lizard snorts and shoots back the rest of his drink as the masked man shakes his head.

"You really don't have to encourage him, he's obnoxious enough by himself." He offers Hawks a gloved hand, "I am Mr. Compress."

"Hawks." He shakes Mr. Compress's hand, noting the limp handshake.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Hawks."

"Please," Hawks waves his hand in the air, "Mr. Hawks was my father, call me Hawks." The yet-to-be-named lizard man claps Hawks on the back and guffaws.

"I like this one! I'm Spinner by the way!" Before he has a chance to reply, the door is thrown open and none other than Shigaraki slumps into the room. Hawks himself had only met Shigaraki one time prior and being interrogated by Shigaraki was an experience that Hawks wouldn't wish upon his enemy.

Who happen to be subordinates with Shigaraki in the first place anyway. Besides that point, there's just something about him that's too off putting.

Between the multitude of hands clasped on to him and the dull red eyes that shine with rage through between the fingers of the hand firmly lodged on his face and that neck scratching. Something just screams ticking time bomb. It reminds Hawks of a spoiled brat. A spoiled brat that can kill with a touch of his hand. A deadly combination.

Shigaraki slinks past Hawks' table and sits down in his normal spot at the bar, the room falls quiet and Shigaraki turns around and faces Hawks.

"I was told that you had a meeting with your boss the other day." Hawks runs his finger against the rim of the table, not breaking eye contact with Shigaraki.

"Yeah, I said exactly what I was told to say." Shigaraki grunts and nods his head slightly. The red gleam of his eyes remain unblinking.

"So tell my why you haven't told us any of their major projects." It comes out as a demand and Hawks doesn't move as he watches Shigaraki slowly stand up, "Tell me why, we're wasting our time on you when you're not even giving us anything to work with." Hawks feels himself grow cold as Shigaraki makes his way over to him.

"Tell me, _hero_ ," He spits out, "Tell me, why I shouldn't just take care of you right now. I'm growing impatient of this waiting game." Hawks still can't move as he sees one of Shigaraki's hands reaching out towards him. The only thought running through his head is how disappointed he is in himself that he's going to die while there's so many fast food stands out there that he's never had the chance to eat at.

"Shigaraki." A deep voice sighs and the hand pauses, a familiar scarred hand taking hold of Shigaraki's elbow, "Think about it. If all of a sudden we start showing up everywhere, they're going to know that there's a rat in their ranks. Look what happened during their little training camp, they figured out that there was someone leaking information and changed plans on us. This is going to take time. They're already on edge after USJ and the training camp, they're going to be overly cautious. We can't go disintegrating him quite yet, he's still useful." Shigaraki rips his arm away from Dabi and doesn't break eye contact with Hawks.

"You're just trying to cover for yourself because _you're_ the one that recommended him. I should save myself the headache and get rid of the both of you. All _you_ do," He glowers at Hawks, "Is waste time and money without even anything to show for." Finally turning around to face Dabi, he points a single finger at him, "And you're just as bad. All you do is sit around and drink away the good alcohol." Dabi shrugs and curls his lip into a thin smirk.

"What can I say? I'm a man of good taste. Plus, I was the one that led the vanguard and captured that blond asshole."

"Oh how could I forget?" Shigaraki's voice is dripping with venom, "How could I forget that night when we lost three of our men _and_ that brat got away from us at the end."

"Just remember that he slipped through _your_ fingers, not mine in the end. Don't go pinning your failures on me." The room is filled with static as the other villains and Hawks stare between Shigaraki and Dabi. Shigaraki thrusts his hand onto the chair next to Hawks and it slowly crumbles to ash, Hawks blinks nervously at the two men standing before him.

"Look," Hawks starts to talk- trying to dispel the growing tension, "I'll arrange a meeting with the Number One Hero, Endeavor." For a brief second, Dabi's eyes flicker over to Hawks with an unreadable expression before turning his focus back to Shigaraki, "What if I offer to team up with him and after he accepts we can find a way to bring him down. Not only will the public's trust in the hero society crumble but I'll also be promoted to Number One where I'll be in on all of the plans. They'll never expect the Pillar of Hope to be the traitor in the end. Gotta strike them where it hurts. After we bring them down from the inside, we can shape society however we want and there'll be no way to stop us. It'll be a win-win situation." Dabi crosses his arms and his smirk grows wider as he stares down Shigaraki.

"There, look, our little hero can think pretty fast on his feet. That's a pretty good idea. Better than what we usually think of. Why don't we let him book a meeting with Endeavor? The public already doesn't like him, bringing him down will only prove to them how weak the heroes already are without their precious All Might. Think of the chaos," Dabi pauses and spreads out his arms, "Your name will be whispered across the country with fear. Villains will want to be you, heroes will cower before you. The system will fall apart at the seams."

"Stick it to the man! Fuck the system!" Twice shouts, pumping one of his fists up in the air. Toga giggles before raising her own fist up as well. Hawks hears a sigh and looks over at Kurogiri who shakes his head and wipes down the bar counter without saying anything.

"Yeah! Fuck the system!" Mr. Compress and Spinner join in on their chants and Shigaraki scratches at his neck irritably.

"Fine. Schedule a meeting with Endeavor. Maybe this time you'll prove yourself useful to us." He says nothing more and makes his way back to the door he entered from. Exactly proving Hawks' analogy of Shigaraki acting nothing more than a little child.

Dabi turns his attention down to Hawks, his turquoise eyes show no emotion. He reaches into his pocket and draws out a cigarette offering one to Hawks who gratefully takes one. A small wisp of blue fire appears at the tip of Dabi's index finger and Hawks leans forward and puffs on the cigarette, igniting the tip. Dabi lights his own cigarette, blowing a ring up towards the ceiling.

"Welcome to The League, little bird." Hawks stares at the azure flame as it slowly dissipates. He finds himself thinking that if asked now by the little boy what his favorite color was, he'd answer with blue.

For blue stands for the crash of the ocean's waves. A soothing color that calms down the once endless energy of red. Blue, the color that can keep himself grounded. A color that he finds himself getting lost in, A color that threatens to drown Hawks in the endless depths of its dangerous beauty and he wouldn't fight against its currents as it drags him down deeper. Yes, Hawks thinks to himself. Blue is definitely his new favorite color.

Not for the first time in his life, Hawks wonders what trouble he finds himself in.

* * *

Author's Note

I would've had this up earlier but I had to work at both jobs today. Between that and the three hours of sleep I got between shifts, I think I'm dying. Or maybe that's from the two energy drinks I chugged before coming into work for tonight. Who knows? All I know is I have my day job to go to after my night shift is up again. My eyes are drier than the Sahara. No amount of eye drops can save me now. Only energy drinks are in my foreseeable future, I'm shaking.

Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that I cannot write kid characters... At least that's the only time I'll have to write one. Hopefully. This chapter didn't _quite_ turn out how I wanted but I'm not mad at it. Get ready for villain shenanigans in the next chapter though. Until next time, fairwinds.

Comments are always welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

So here Hawks finds himself pacing outside of Endeavor's hospital room running various scenarios through his mind. So far, he can think up of four endings for himself.

Good ending: Nobody gets hurt, he gets out of the League and retires at the ripe old age of twenty-three and promptly fucks off to Hawai'i to live the rest of his life in lazy bliss.

Not so good ending: Endeavor refuses to work with him- because he almost died during the last time they tried to hash out a plan to work together. Which totally wasn't Hawks' fault by the way- the people that invade in his life just don't know how to be patient and follow the plans. Shigaraki gets fed up with him and kicks him out of the League, Hawks gets fired from the agency because of that- but at the same time he can still retire to Hawai'i. So in the end, as long as he gets his mai tai, Hawks can't complain.

Bad ending: the exact same thing but instead of being kicked out of the League, he's killed.

And the worst ending?

The worst ending is that he'll be caught as a double agent and gets tortured to the death or something by the League. He supposes that they could make him become a living blood bank for Toga and she would assume his position and take the role of double or triple agent or whatever he's considered- he doesn't even know anymore. With his identity stolen- who knows what pure chaos could ensue.

Hawks would really rather keep his life and identity so he decides the last two endings absolutely cannot happen. At all.

As Hawks raises his fist to knock, the door slides open and a young woman with a shock of white hair and red highlights nearly stumbles into him.

"Ah! I'm so sorry." She manages to mumble and peers up at him. Behind her glasses, her startlingly blue doe eyes blink several times and she bows, "I didn't see you there Hawks. Are you here to see my father?" Father? Hawks didn't know that Endeavor had more children than Shouto. The newly named Number One Hero is beyond private with his personal life but Hawks thought that Endeavor would at least mention something like children with his colleagues. Aren't one's children supposed to be the light of the parents' world? Hawks wouldn't know, he barely remembers his own parents.

"No need to apologize ma'am. Is Endeavor awake?" She nods and asks him to call her Fuyumi. Hawks thanks her and heads inside to the man who unknowingly holds Hawks' fate in his hands.

* * *

"No." Hawks feels his heart sink all the way down to his toes and a cold wave of panic crashes over him. He keeps a calm demeanor and stares down at the hulking mass of Endeavor.

"Uh- can I ask why?" An icy glare greets him and Hawks is startled by the familiar glare. Sure, he's been glared at a lot by Endeavor but there's something else so familiar about his glare that Hawks can't quite put his finger on. He knows that he's seen this glare before on someone else.

"I'm the Number One Hero. I don't need to team up."

"No offense Endeavor, but like, I think this would be the best time for heroes to team up. You just about got your ass handed to you." Endeavor growls as fire starts to climb across his body. Hawks thinks to himself that he may have found a hidden ending: Becoming a rotisserie chicken by Endeavor himself.

"I was merely just caught off guard."

"Okay, and? You still ended up in the hospital." Endeavor props himself up and Hawks can see a vein throbbing in Endeavor's forehead.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you to respect your elders, _boy_?" Hawks fights the urge to roll his eyes and instead sits down at the chair next to the bed.

"Thanks for reminding me that I'm an orphan." They stare at each other for a heartbeat, "Look, what if that Nomu wasn't the only one of that prototype? As Number One and Number Two Heroes, we need to make sure of the public's safety, yeah? This isn't the time for pride. People's lives are on the line. Don't throw away their lives because you think that you're too good for teaming up." Hawks stands up, Endeavor's eyes following his every move with poorly masked anger.

"All Might didn't need to team up." Hawks wants nothing more than to launch himself out of Endeavor's window out of frustration. Instead he starts walking towards the door and glances over his shoulder.

"All Might isn't the Number One Hero anymore. You are," He grabs on to the door knob, "Besides, look what happened to him. He can't even use his quirk anymore. Is that what you want? Who's to say that might happen to you? We live in a dangerous time." Endeavor says nothing as Hawks slides the door open.

"Just think about it Endeavor. Let me know what your answer is," Hawks turns and starts to slide the door shut, "Don't let your pride get in the way of your job. Don't disappoint me or the public." He closes the door before Endeavor can say anything.

* * *

As he saunters down the hallway whistling a merry tune, he idly wonders how many kids Endeavor might have. He thinks back to Fuyumi and her timid nature, who knew that the bold and brash Endeavor could sire such a gentle and nervous daughter? Maybe there's more than what meets the eye. Hawks decides that must be it, for Endeavor to only talk about Shouto and not Fuyumi and other potential children just seems odd to Hawks.

He rings for the elevator and taps against his thigh still thinking about the mysteries surrounding the Todoroki family. His hand falls limp and the whistle dies on his lips as he remembers the all too familiar glower of Endeavor. It wasn't just the glare that was familiar to Hawks.

For the second time during his hospital visit, he feels his heart drop.

He's seen that unmistakable blue before.

Not because he had just met Fuyumi.

Not because he's seen Shouto, with his heterochromatic grey and blue, preform during the Sports Festival.

Not because he's worked with Endeavor for the year or because he's looked up to him during Hawks' entire childhood.

As the elevator doors open, Hawks realizes where he's seen those eyes before.

The constant presence in his life for the past month. The most irritatingly annoying room mate Hawks has ever had the misfortune to put up with. The man that's part of the organization that Hawks was assigned to spy on.

None other than Dabi.

The elevator doors slide shut and Hawks numbly presses the _lobby_ button. The cheery elevator music falls on deaf ears as Hawks leans against the stainless steel walls of the elevator.

"Holy shit." He mumbles to himself. Hawks decides that today is definitely going to call for a run to the liquor store. With luck, Hawks prays that he won't have to see Dabi today.

* * *

Author's Note

Super short chapter, don't worry though. I'll have another chapter up later tonight, I felt like this needed a stand alone chapter with nothing else added. Things are starting to get fired up in Hawks' life. Poor thing, he can never catch a break.

Also, I'm going by the manga and not the anime because 1. Hawks isn't even in the anime quite yet. and 2. I liked the fact that Fuyumi has turquoise eyes in the manga and decided to roll with that.

Random but my life is full of disappointment. I forgot my headphones at home and my Bluetooth headphones died on me (don't ask why I usually have two pairs of headphones with me lol) so now I have to use these really shitty headphones from work and I wouldn't even wish these shitty headphones on my enemies. They suck. So much.

I tried to get caught up on sleep this weekend, but that didn't really work out. Instead I finally crashed this morning and slept for like 14 some odd hours and was almost late to work. Story of my life.

Well, that's it for now. Until then, fairwinds.

Comments are always welcome!


	5. Chapter 5

A perk of having an apartment up on the top floor is the easy access to the roof top. Hawks slides down the wall and cracks open a cold bottle of cheap beer he got from the convenience store across the street. He's thankful that today isn't too cold and instead welcomes the sight of the bright sun in the sky.

He's always been enamored with the sun. Hawks associated the sun with freedom. Ever since being picked up by the government when he was a little boy, he'd stare up at the sun through the small window of his cage. Wishing with all of his might that one day he could truly spread his wings and be free from everything.

He may be free of his cage as an adult but his wings still remain clipped. Hawks doubts if he'll ever be able to truly feel the warmth of the sun against his back as he flies. A harsh reality taught to him at a young age.

Everything comes with a price.

Even the sun and its freedom.

The forbidden love story of Icarus and the Sun always pops into Hawks' mind when he gets into his melancholy moods. He's all too familiar with that story.

A tragedy really.

Being locked up all his life with the sun just out of his grasp, Icarus was finally given the chance to escape and fell in love with the sun's warmth and beauty. He flew too close and in the end, the wax melted and the feathers smoldered to ash. Leaving poor Icarus to fall to his own death.

Hawks always wondered if Icarus had any regrets as he plummeted towards the ocean.

Hawks ponders if he would have any regrets if he chose to fly too close to the sun as well.

The roof door opening breaks Hawks away from his daydream and from the corner of his eyes he spies the last person he wants to see right now. Hawks flutters his wings in frustration and looks down at the ground between his feet.

"What're you doing up here?" The man stops next to Hawks but doesn't sit down, he focuses his glare on Dabi's scarred ankles.

"Ponderin' the meaning of my depressing life, amigo." He's in no mood for Dabi's games but Dabi seems to think otherwise.

"Hey, just letting you know but 2007 called and they want their shitty emo outlook on life back." Hawks grunts before knocking back more of his beer.

"2007 can go fuck itself." Dabi chuckles and squats down next to Hawks.

"Damn Hawks, how many of these have you been drinking? You fucking reek of cheap booze."

"'M'adult. I do what I want dammit." Hawks finally turns to face Dabi and finds the man staring back at him with a hint of amused smile and a quirked eyebrow. Hawks blinks and looks away before he has a chance to get lost in Dabi's bright eyes.

Dabi reaches over and takes a bottle from the plastic bag without asking Hawks. He twists the cap off and downs the drink, Dabi grimaces and looks down at the beer bottle in mild disgust, "You could at least get the good stuff. This is just basically water."

"If you want something else, you can go to the bar and bother your li'l friends for better shit."

"Jesus, calm down you feisty fuck. What got your feathers all ruffled?" Hawks pouts and rests his chin against his knees that are pulled up to his chest.

"The sun."

"... the sun." Dabi repeats, Hawks side glances Dabi and grunts in agreement.

"Yeah."

"So why are you out here in the sun then?" Hawks can certainly hear the smile behind Dabi's question and it only soils his own mood further.

"'Cause fuck it. Tha's why." Dabi says nothing and neither does Hawks. Instead, they both sit in silence as Hawks glares up at the sky and Dabi nurses his watered down beer.

"You ever think if you made a different decision, your life woulda been way different?" Hawks hears a sigh and Dabi stretches his long legs out in front of him.

"Maybe."

"D'you," Hawks takes his gaze from the sky and focuses on the lip of his bottle, "D'you regret your decisions?"

"Are you trying to stage an intervention with the big ol' bad guy in seeing the error of his ways?" Dabi drawls out, he chuckles and starts fishing around his jacket pockets- searching for something.

"Nah, I was jus' wondering." Dabi pulls out a rolled piece of paper and lights it with his index finger. A strong and earthly stink assaults Hawks' nose and he watches as Dabi takes a hit. Dabi holds in the smoke for a few moments before exhaling, Hawks turns his gaze to the light grey smoke that twists and curls upwards to the sky. He focuses back on Dabi, who takes a second hit and smirks at Hawks.

"What? You planning on reporting me or something?" Hawks laughs for the first time today and shakes his head.

"I don't give a damn, blaze away my dude." Dabi snorts and passes the joint to Hawks. It's been a few years since Hawks last smoked but he still gratefully accepts it. For a brief second, their fingers brush against each other and Hawks is taken aback by the heat rolling off of Dabi's skin, he chooses to not say anything and instead takes a hit of his own.

"Y'know, you're not like any other hero I've met, bird brain." Hawks rolls his eyes and faces the villain who's fiddling with his one of helix piercings and Hawks tries not to look at Dabi's lips that are pulled into a soft smile, "Most heroes I come across usually have their panties in a twist."

"'S'probably because of how damn _fugly_ you are." Dabi's grin wavers for a second before he starts to laugh. For the month that they've been forced to live together- Hawks had never heard the man actually laugh before and he finds himself hoping to hear Dabi laugh again. He sounds good when he laughs, Hawks thinks to himself.

"Man, fuck you." They stay on the rooftop for another hour before the sun starts to set. Hawks watches as the sun dips behind his city, surrounding the tall towers of the downtown area in a haze of silky purple. The sky itself is painted in a carmine red mixed with soft gold and pink undertones. Hawks definitely thinks that this is the best part of having an apartment on the top floor. The first floor apartments could never offer such a breathtaking view.

"You ever just, I dunno, just wanna run away from all of it?" Dabi looks from the sun set and over at Hawks with a flat expression.

"Well, in my own experience, running away normally doesn't do jack shit. It burns a lot more bridges than for what it's worth. At least in my own opinion. You thinking of running away?" Hawks thinks back to his startling realization earlier from today and once again finds himself wondering what exactly happens behind closed doors in the Todoroki home. A question for another day though.

"I used to y'know? I just never really had anything going for me." Dabi chuckles and shakes his head.

"Bullshit. You're the Number Two Hero. Isn't that enough for you?" Hawks sighs and scratches the back of his neck. He fluffs up his feathers slightly, the temperature is starting to drop and the last thing that Hawks wants to deal with is a cold on top of everything else.

"I mean, yeah. I am now. But I sure as hell wasn't anything back when I was a kid."

"Oh?" Some tiny sober part of Hawks' brain tells him not to open up to a villain about his childhood. Inebriated Hawks ignores that voice. He's been too quiet on his own upbringing for too long to care about the consequences anymore. Besides, what is Dabi going to do? Call the police on the government for ruining a perfectly good child and fucking him up? In the years Hawks has worked with the police, he's found them to have the capability to be just as corrupt as hero agencies.

"My dude, pal, you don't even know half of it." Dabi stays quiet, Hawks doesn't bother to look over at the villain because he knows that if he does, he won't be able to continue.

"Like, I don't even remember my parents. Sure, I got a photo or two stashed away but what can a photo do for me if I don't even remember the people in it? They just never came home one day I guess, y'know? I started living in the streets, causing trouble for everyone. Heh, I remember hanging around with a group of older kids. We had a gang called The Tunnel Snakes, man, we were stupid as fuck. We thought that we were top shit, yeah? Like ' _Tunnel Snakes rule! Hell yeah!_ '," He hears Dabi snort but he continues to ramble, "Shit, none of us even had a snake quirk or anything.

Well that was all fine and merry but one day there was this car accident and no heroes around. I had to do something, what if they had kids? Those kids woulda ended up orphans just like me, I couldn't just stand around and watch 'em die.

Guess there were heroes on their way and arrived a few seconds after I saved them. They were real interested when they learned that I saved them when I was just a kid," Hawks pauses and takes a swig of his beer. He closes his eyes and frowns, this part of his story is something he always tried to forget. Now here he is crying to a villain about it. Shit is whack, he thinks to himself.

"I got taken in by the government and was trained to be a hero. I swear dude, it was like some sort of Maximum Ride bullshit. 'Cept I didn't have no flock of my own. Just me, myself and I. After I turned eighteen they just kinda threw me into a role that I never even wanted to begin with. Now here I am as the Number Two Hero. Ain't that something?"

"Damn, that's rough buddy," Hawks grunts and nods his head, "Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Saving those people when you were a kid. Do you regret it?" Hawks wraps his wings around himself and subconsciously preens his feathers. He says nothing for a moment as he watches his fingers thread through his vermilion feathers.

"No. It was the right thing to do in the end."

"Here I thought that there were no heroes left in this world. Why are you even in The League?" Hawks shrugs, still not making eye contact.

"Late teenage rebellion? The consuming need to be able to have control of my own life? Wanting to feel like I belong somewhere? The list is endless."

"I get what you mean. With everything." Hawks finally looks over to Dabi and is taken aback. Dabi looks so vulnerable in the dying light of the setting sun. His feet over the edge of the building, swinging slowly as he chews on his bottom lip.

"You're a government experiment too?"

"No. No, I was an experiment I guess you could say but just not for the government." His glare turns steely and Dabi's hands ball up into fists.

"You ever hear about quirk marriages?" He doesn't give Hawks time to answer, "Well, once upon a time there was this giant fucking asshole who wanted nothing more in life than to be the very best and didn't care what or who he hurt to get to his goal. He met this woman who he decided that she would be the bearer of his hell's spawn. She was everything opposite of him. He was nothing but fury and burning disgust for his own shortcomings. She was the gentle light and love that would soon become her own downfall. He knew that with their combined quirks, their child would be unstoppable.

He managed to worm his way into the woman's family with the flaunting of his immense wealth and his honey dipped lies. Eventually they just agreed to hand her over, some grade A family right there, huh.

Perhaps in the beginning they might've been happy.

Until they started to have kids." Dabi sighs running his hand over his disfigured face and cracks his neck.

"The first was a boy who much to his father's delight was a carbon copy his father. After the birth of their first child, they quickly had another- a girl this time. Soon after their daughter they had another son. Both the daughter and younger son took after the mother with their fair hair and kind eyes. They never had an ounce of hate in them, no. Their laughter could be heard bouncing off of the walls of the manor at any time of the day.

As the three children reached the age of when quirks come in, the father was met with disappointment. Out of all of them, one had his father's quirk, one had her mother's quirk and the youngest was completely quirkless.

Oh the rage that boiled inside of the man. How could the products of his hard work and great expectations turn out to be such disappointments?

He decided that his best bet would be to train his eldest son. His son wanted nothing more than to make his father proud. He loved and idolized his father. He would've given his own limbs away if it would mean that the father would smile and tell him 'good job'.

With each passing year, the man became more twisted. He allowed his rage to take a hold of him and took it out on his own flesh and blood. His frustrations of the failures of his own children consumed him and nothing could soothe his rampage." Hawks feels his body grow cold as Dabi pauses to open another beer bottle. He knew that something most likely happened to force Dabi to live like this but still hearing everything first hand... is shocking.

"The eldest always did his best to shield his younger siblings from the pain and fear that he was forced to face on a daily basis.

Then one day the eldest son's world was thrown in turmoil with the birth of his youngest sibling. A baby brother. From the moment he was brought home, things quickly changed. His baby brother was dubbed _perfect_. He was split down the middle, one side representing his father and the other as his mother.

After the arrival of his brother, the boy's father became even more unsteady.

He was impatient, but he could do nothing but wait. Wait and train his eldest son.

Each training session was more and more brutal. His son couldn't keep up anymore and even with the the father screaming in his face about bringing shame and disappointment to his family name. Even after the constant burns and bruises and cuts marking the boy, he just couldn't push himself any further.

He felt like he was being torn apart at the seams and had no where to go anymore. His once loving mother became a shell of herself, she would just hide from everyone and would only allow his younger siblings near her.

Her eldest was, after all, a walking clone of her husband." Dabi reaches into his pocket and produces another joint.

"Any time they would meet in the halls, she would have a breakdown and scream at him and cry and throw things at him. Telling him to get away from her. That she can't even bear to look at him anymore. That he was alike his father in every way.

What a hell of a way for the eldest boy to grow up. One parent telling him how he'll never amount to anything in life and just end up as a worm to be squashed beneath a shoe. That there's nothing for him to do because he's already disgraced the family enough. And the other parent? Well, he stayed away from her after her multiple breakdowns. He could no longer run into her arms for comfort. He was alone. His mother whispered her own lies into his siblings' ears and they quickly feared him as much as they feared their father." The joint glows as he takes hit after hit.

"Eventually the perfect son acquired his quirk and the eldest was put on the back burner.

He would watch in solitude as his youngest brother became the perfect weapon for his father's plans. He knew that he wasn't needed anymore. He was tossed to the side like the piece of trash that he was always told that he was. After seeing his mother throw a kettle full of boiling water at his brother and her ended up getting carted off to who the hell knows. He couldn't handle it anymore. So, he ran away.

He began to fucking despise everything. How could society continue to allow things to run as they do? How could they worship the scum of the earth simply because they're _heroes_? How could heroes, sworn to protect the children, the weak and the old- grow to be so easily swayed and let their vices control them to hurt those that they were tasked with to protect in the first place? How could these fake _heroes_ get away with their crimes?" His deep voice is laced with venom as he spits out his questions. He stares down at his joint and exhales irritably.

"He decided to play the cards that he was given in life and that if he was going to be labeled as a disappointment and the _bad guy_ , he'll give them a run for his money." The joint is nearly gone and with a lazy flick of his wrist, Dabi sends the still smoldering joint down the side of the building. Both men watch as it tumbles over itself before fading out of sight.

"So the first thing he did was to dye his hair so that he wouldn't have to be reminded of his father." Dabi motions to his own hair and a sneer starts to grow.

"Then he decided to get some piercings because fuck, why the hell not?" Dabi starts to chuckle and Hawks feels his heart drop to his stomach.

"Then he decided that he actually likes what he became. Except there was still one thing that he fucking hated. The one thing that his father was so proud of when he was younger. The one thing that his own mother would scream and cry at. The fact that he looked just like his father didn't sit right with him anymore and well," Dabi trails off and taps a slender finger against one of his surgical staples, "Well, he decided to make sure that his family would never recognize him. If they want to call him a monster, he might as well pick up that role, yeah?"

"Why was none of this on the news?" Dabi snorts and turns around to face Hawks, all expression is gone except for the burning hiding behind his turquoise eyes.

"Please, bird brain, I'm sure you know who my father is. After all, you've worked with him this whole time. You think a bastard like him would allow family matters to get in the way of his ambitions? Not only is he one of the most powerful men in Japan but he has friends in high positions." They remain quiet as they stare at each other. Dabi eventually stands up, his knees pop and he stretches.

"Anyway, that's my sob story. Happy now?"

No. Hawks is definitely not happy. Quite the opposite, he's filled with anger that someone would do this. He's too tired, drunk and stoned to be embarrassed about the fact that he's enraged at the thought of anyone even hurting Dabi.

Villain or not, no one deserves that kind of life.

"It's getting cold out here, let's go inside." Hawks shakily stumbles to his feet and trips over the mountain of bottles piled besides him, "Just saying, if you're going to die from a broken neck from fucking beer bottles... that would just be about the saddest thing I've ever seen in my life." A pair of warm hands hoist Hawks up from under the armpits and before he can stop the world from spinning, he's thrown over Dabi's shoulder.

"Thank god you're not as heavy as you look."

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Dabi opts to not answer Hawks' question. He hears the scarred man snicker and Hawks crosses his arms in a pout as he's carried downstairs and into the apartment.

Hawks falls into his bed and studies Dabi as the man tries to take off Hawks' shoes. He has so many questions to ask but as his eyes grow heavy and he starts to feel the edge of sobriety Hawks decides that now is not the time to pepper Dabi with questions that Hawks could probably find with his own investigations.

He feels the mattress dip under the weight of a second person and Hawks rolls over to his side to allow more room between the two men. As he's about to fall into the embrace of slumber, Dabi brings him out of his dozing.

"Hawks."

"M'yeah?"

"If you tell anyone about this, so help me god, I _will_ incinerate everything you love and I'll make sure that no one finds your body after I'm done killing you." Hawks' last thought before he drifts off is the wonder if Dabi would really follow through on his threat if it meant to burn himself.

* * *

Author's Note

This would've been up sooner but mid way through writing this, my work computer decided to not save anything and I had to completely rewrite everything.

This chapter has been something that I knew I had to eventually get around to writing and it was rough to write. I... grew up in a very, very similar situation I guess would be a nice way to put it...

I promise that regular shenanigans will ensure after this chapter!

Also, I'm going to try to push as many new chapters out as possible before next Friday (12-22) My second job decided to give me way more hours so by that Friday I'll be working both jobs full time, essentially giving me 16 hour work days. So if this story isn't complete by then, updates will be a bit sporadic then... The story in itself is about halfway done, I'm aiming for about 10ish chapters so I'm really excited! That's all for now, so until then, fairwinds.

Oh, also, #tunnelsnakes4lyfe

Comments are always welcome!


	6. Chapter 6

A shrill alarm rings out and Hawks cracks open a golden eye. His head starts to throb and he squeezes his eye shut, his hand searching to turn off the shrieking alarm. Silence once again fills his apartment and he relaxes back into his pillow. Sighing, he rolls over and comes face to face with Dabi- who's stirring from his own dreams.

Hawks watches, hypnotized, as Dabi slowly opens his eyes. He feels his heart skip a beat as Dabi's gaze focuses on him, he says nothing as Dabi quietly studies him- his eyes shift from Hawks' own and land on Hawks' lips for a brief second before flickering up to the ceiling.

In the morning light, Dabi looks nearly ethereal. His inky dark hair silkily splays out as a stark contrast against Hawks' white pillow, the unmarred parts of his face seem to soak up the morning sun's light and has a soft glow. His gaze follows along Dabi's sharp jawline, allowing the surgical staples to guide his eyes up to the soft swell of his cheekbones and finally to Dabi's half lidded eyes. His eyes that are still waking up, blinking blearily up at the ceiling, he posses a look of peace rather than his usual inquisitive glare. As Dabi shifts slightly, the staples reflect against the light and Hawks wants nothing more than to touch them. Shiny objects always catches his eye. His colleagues always joke around that he has hidden stashes of his shiny " _preciouses_ " scattered throughout the office and in his apartment.

Both men are quiet, enjoying the morning tranquility that takes hold of the apartment. Dust motes dance lazily in the sunlight that streams in from between the cracks in the blinds. Hawks watches as Dabi's chest rises and falls in deep breaths, Dabi lifts an arm and covers his face with the crook of his elbow.

"What time is it?" His voice, still gruff from sleep, breaks Hawks' trance and he blinks before sitting up- running his fingers through his bed head. He squints over at the alarm clock and launches out of his bed, the magic of a sleepy morning broken.

"Shit! I have a meeting today. I'm gonna be late!" From behind him, he hears the rustle of fabric as Dabi stretches, yawns and turns over on his side- falling back asleep with a soft snore.

Hawks digs through his dresser and pulls out a pair of pants, hiking them up before grabbing a semi clean shirt off of the piled up clothes in the corner. He takes one last glance over his shoulder before he bolts out the door and smiles at the sleeping form of Dabi before he gently closes the door to avoid waking the man up.

* * *

"-Increase our patrols- Ah, Hawks. Glad to see you decided to show up to the meeting." His boss watches him with sharp eyes from the head of the table as Hawks sits down next to Miruko.

"Sorry, morning commute was a bitch. You know how it goes."

"Don't you fly?" A hero across from him asks, Miruko starts to snicker.

"Yeah, I was stuck behind a flock of asshole geese. I wasn't about to get in a fight with them, those suckers got teeth. I'd rather *not* ruin my handsome face."

"Handsome? Hawks you might wanna take a look in the mirror because you look like you got one foot in the grave."

"Eh, I had a rough night. Not as young as I used to be." Miruko narrows her eyes at him and taps her finger against the table.

"You're yo-"

"Er-hem." Their boss clears his throat, "This is not a social circle. We are here strictly for business and I would appreciate if it were to stay that way." He looks around the table, daring for another hero to interrupt the meeting, "Now, as I was saying. With the increased amount of Nomu sightings throughout the country, all agencies agreed to band together and push back the steady growing Nomu sightings. We've enough civilian complaints and if we fall behind on this, they may very well start taking matters into their own hands. Not only will that cause more casualties but also more paperwork on our end, something that I really would rather _not_ fill out. There is no need for unnecessary lawsuits. We have a good image to uphold. Especially after what's been happening over at Yuuei, we have to maintain the public's trust." Hawks' boss laces his fingers together and looks from one hero to another before fully stopping on Hawks.

"All heroes will be pairing up and working in teams of two during their patrols. Endeavor suggested this and I expected nothing less from the Number One Hero." Hawks clenches his jaw, of course Endeavor would take credit for Hawks' own plan. He's beginning to ask himself why he even idolized the man to start with. Maybe after learning of Dabi's past, Hawks' eyes opened and really saw who Endeavor was as a person and not a hero. A title that Endeavor doesn't even deserve in Hawks' opinion.

After the mention of Endeavor's name, Hawks finds himself unable to concentrate and lets his mind slip back to the previous night. He never thought in a million years that he would sympathize with a villain. He supposes that he never thought that he would end up with feelings for a villain either. He doesn't even know how to begin to process the strangeness of their relationship.

How could it start with them constantly at each other's throats and trying to drive the other crazy and for it to end up with. Well, Hawks thinks to himself- hoping he's not blushing in the middle of his meeting, well wanting to be at Dabi's throat. Just in a different sense.

He rubs the back of his neck and catches Miruko's eye, she waggles her eyebrows at him and he looks away quickly. The thought of how Dabi's skin against his lips would feel still on his mind.

Why did he even let himself get involved in this mess? He tells himself that he needs to stop being such a "yes man". Hawks tries to turn his attention back to the meeting but finds himself failing. Instead, he stares out of the window and occasionally nods to whatever his boss is saying. Knowing that Miruko will tell him if he missed anything important.

* * *

After what feels like ages, the meeting ends and Hawks stretches. The small meeting room doesn't allow Hawks to spread his wings to their full glory but he's just thankful enough that he doesn't have to sit in another meeting until the following month.

"Hawks, if you could stay behind for a moment please." His boss's request is more of a demand than a question and they both know it. He sighs and looks up to the clock behind his boss, it's almost noon and all he can think about is the gnawing hunger in the pit of his stomach. In his rush this morning, he skipped out on breakfast and while morning meetings usually hold doughnuts and coffee- he arrived too late and all the doughnuts were gone.

He stays seated and watches as the last of the heroes trickle out of the office, the door shutting behind Miruko as she shoots him a "good luck" look.

"Hawks, I have been patient." He inwardly groans, knowing that he's going to end up dealing with the same conversation he had with Shigaraki the week before. Only this time, no one will come to save him.

"I chose you with the upmost confidence in your ability to infiltrate their ranks. Yet, your weekly progress reports continue to show a bare minimum. Is there something going on that I need to be aware of?" Oh boy, Hawks thinks, if only his boss knew.

"Well, I still don't _fully_ have their trust yet." The wrinkle appears between his boss's brows, "But I almost have them! It seems that they're just waiting for things to cool down a little bit more after all the Nomus that they've been throwing out left and right like they're Oprah fuckin' Winfrey. 'You get a Nomu, you get a Nomu. You all get Nomus!'"

The wrinkle gets deeper.

"I mean- I have a meeting with them soon. I'll see what I can gather from that meeting."

"How soon is _soon_ exactly?" Hawks refocuses from the wrinkle and shrugs.

"I'll get in contact with my guy today and ask him for the specifics. Besides that, I'm in the complete dark. What I do know is that they are planning on something big in the foreseeable future." His boss laughs.

"Of course they'll be planning on something big. They're nothing but villains. Disgusting filth of our society," His boss stands and claps Hawks on the shoulder, "You find out what they're planning Hawks. The good people of Japan are counting on you." Hawks feels bile rise up in his throat and he numbly nods.

* * *

"So." Hawks looks up from his cheeseburger and sees an all too smug Miruko.

"So?"

"What's gotten my Hawks blushing like a fresh spring chicken?" He sets down his burger with a sigh and shakes his head.

"Blushing? Who's blushing? I'm not blushing." She gives him a wink and sets down her own burger.

"You were at the meeting."

"Hmm, I think you need to get your eyes checked. Definitely was not blushing." Her grin grows and Hawks wishes for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He knows that nothing can slip under the watchful eyes of Miruko.

"Why the fuck you lyin'? I sat right next to you, you were more red than a cardinal."

"Do you always have to make everything bird related with me?"

"You looked as happy as a lark!" He stares at her, trying to suppress a smile. Miruko giggles and takes a bite out of her burger, the grease runs down the sides of her mouth and Hawks watches as a glob of ketchup falls from the bun and splatters on her hand.

"Okay, I'm done... for now." He narrows his eyes and waits but she simply shrugs and takes another bite.

"For real though. I don't think I've ever seen such a dopey and love sick grin on you before."

"I don't know what kind of drugs you're taking but I'm not in love."

"Who'd you think you're kidding? You can try to keep it hidden but honey, I can see right through you."

"No chance. No way. I'm not gonna say it."

"Girl, you can't deny it." Miruko replies in a airy sing song voice. Hawks crosses his arms and narrows his eyes suspiciously at her.

"I'm not going to break out in song with you, Miruko." She seems to deflate and sticks her lower lip out in a pout.  
"Boo! You're no fun!" They return to eating their lunch in peace, she keeps shooting him looks and he knows that if he doesn't indulge in her curiosity at lest a little bit, she'll end up following him all the way home and get hit in the face with the cold harsh reality of Hawks' situation.

That can't happen.

"If I tell you a little bit, will it make you leave me alone?" Miruko instantly perks up and she bounces in her seat like a small child.

"Depends on how good the details are. Do I know her?" Ah, the first hurdle. He thinks to himself.

"Um, well." She instantly picks up on his pause and her smile grows, her giant bunny ears twitch. At this point, Hawks is actively worried about her face splitting into two at this point.

"Oh! Or maybe I should ask, do I know him?"

"You know of him?" Hawks doesn't dare to elaborate. He's not mentally ready for the shit show if revealed that he's pinning for a villain. She rubs her chin thoughtfully and nods, thinking.

"What does he look like?" He's starting to sweat bullets, thankfully his phone pings and he looks down at it. Miruko arches an eyebrow and slyly winks.

"Is that from lover boy?"

It was in fact, from Dabi. He twists away from her prying gaze and opens the message.

 _From: Dabi_

 _Having fun?_

 _From: Hawks_

 _wat_ He wants to send out a meme of an old lady saying that but guesses that Dabi's flip phone probably doesn't receive picture messages. Even if it did, he doubts that Dabi dabbles in the art of memery.

He looks around for the man but sees no one familiar in the ocean of business people enjoying their lunch.

 _From: Dabi_

 _Told you Im on babysitting duty_

 _Youve been here for an hr. Im bored af._ His phone pings again and Hawks fights to hold in a snort.

 _You could at least get me something_

 _strawberry milkshake._ His phone falls silent and tries to look around the room again, Miruko picks up on this and not so subtlety whips her head around.

"Oh my god, is he here?!" He laughs and takes a bite out of his burger, refusing to answer her question.

* * *

"You two seem to get along great." Dabi says in between sips of his milkshake. Today, Dabi seemed to leave behind his signature trench coat in favor for a loose turtleneck, a pair of fitted black jeans and combat boots. He has another one of his face masks pulled down around his neck and dark aviators- hiding his eyes. If Hawks was to be honest with himself, he likes seeing Dabi in clothes that actually seem to fit his body better than his usual nearly hobo-like outfits.

"Miruko?" Dabi's eyebrows knit together and he grumbles beneath his breath, his eyes never leaving the straw of his drink. Dabi kicks at a pebble on the side of the road and Hawks watches as the pebble bounces off of the concrete and fall into a storm drain.

"She's pretty cool. We've known each other for a few years now, she used to be my partner."

"Hm." Dabi's reply is short and terse, the tips of his fingers turn white as he gripes tightly against the sides of the milkshake.

"If you ruin that, I'm not buying you another one. Rent is coming up." Dabi growls something out again and Hawks rolls his eyes, he doesn't know what put Dabi in such a bad mood but he finds it a little funny. He never would've guessed that Dabi could pout.

"What?"

"Nothing." Dabi fixates a sullen glare at Hawks and slowly releases the death grip on the poor cup. He starts to walk a little faster, leaving Hawks a foot or so behind him. Hawks stifles a giggle as Dabi slouches into himself and puts in headphones. Hawks lets Dabi walk ahead of him, preferring the view from behind.

* * *

Author's Note

I love writing morning scenes, they're probably my favorite scenes to write.

I used to live in a city where there were geese just _e v e e_. They had knew no fear and would stare you down with their beady little stupid eyes as you nervously walk by praying to any and every god possible that they wouldn't decide to be little shits and attack. Mean asshole birds.

Miruko totally strikes me the type to be super punny. I was scrolling through so many stupid bird pun websites lol, I'm not a very punny person myself so I was suffering the whole time I was looking for puns.

Have an oblivious and thirsty Hawks and a jealous Dabi.

Also, give Dabi some better fitting clothes, omg he deserves more than his tattered clothes and for heaven's sake, let him wear some socks. Okay, rant over. Until then, fairwinds.

Reviews are always welcome!


	7. Chapter 7

"Ha!" Hawks graciously does _not_ fall on his ass this time as he stepped through the warp gate. He holds his hands up towards the ceiling like an Olympic champion that just won the gold medal. Dabi shoulders past Hawks without saying a word and takes a seat at the bar- ordering a whiskey on the rocks. Twice claps enthusiastically from his table and Toga cheers.

"Bravo!" He bows to his personal cheerleaders and laughs.

"Well look at you Hawks! That's the first time that you didn't fall from the warp gate. They grow up so quickly! I'm so proud!" Twice chokes out a sob and Toga sympathetically pats his shoulder.

"Aww, Twice, already getting empty nest syndrome?" He nods and stands up, pulling Hawks into a rib crushing hug.

"Just don't forget to call us!"

"Twice, buddy, I'm not going anywhere." He tries to pry away Twice's arms but remains stuck, he shoots a look over at Toga with his best puppy dog eye impression.

"Little help here?" She gives him a wide smile and twirls her hair around her finger, lost in thought.

"Hmm, to help or not to help?" Her voice is light and airy as she studies the two men, she lets out another giggle before bounding over to them. Gently peeling Twice away from Hawks, Toga's yellow eyes widen and her smile grows- her fangs pressing up against her bottom lip.

"Oh? What's this?" Hawks tilts his head to the side and Twice looks from Toga to Hawks so quickly it would be comical if Hawks didn't find himself in the middle of yet another awkward situation.

"What is it Toga?!" Twice is nearly bursting from energy as he watches Toga sidle up next to Hawks. She blinks up at him and she pokes his cheek, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"Hawks!" He tries to take a step back, but she grabs a hold of his hands and jumps up and down in excitement, "Hawks, you _love_ someone!" Hawks' heart lurches forward and he's at a loss for words. In the corner of his eye, Dabi visibly stiffens and quickly demands another shot of whiskey.

"What are they like?" Toga brings his attention back to her and she swings her hands at her side, "I like the ones that aren't afraid of getting dirty and _ohhh_ when they get covered in blood, I just can't help myself from falling in love. So what's your type? Wait! Lemme guess!" Twice hangs from her shoulder as both of them look Hawks up and down, Twice whispers something in her ear and she giggles.

"I bet you like a cutesy innocent type huh? You seem pretty vanilla." Hawks wants nothing more than to die. He starts to inch towards the bar, knowing that if he's going to be forced to have this conversation, he's going to have to be a lot less sober.

"Oh yeah! Toga, look at him blushing!"

"Tell us, Hawks, have you even had your first kiss yet?" He feels his face heat up and he starts to fidget with his wings.

"I am _not_ having this conversation with you. The fuck, you're like twelve." Toga pouts and stomps her foot against the floor.

"I'm not twelve!" Hawks pushes his hand against her face and nods.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. _Thirteen_." He takes a seat next to Dabi and asks for a sangria. Twice sits on the other side of Hawks and Toga leans against Hawks, still smiling.

"Y'know, now that I think about it, Toga-" Twice trails, scratching his head, "I read somewhere that Hawks and that cute little bunny girl hero were a thing." Toga gasps and starts poking Hawks' cheeks again.

"Ohmigod! You two would totally be cute together!" She starts to sing out, "She's not my type, but I can see you liking her. I told you Twice, cutesy innocent is totally his type!"

"Hawks and Miruko sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Twice starts to belt out at the top of his lungs. Dabi slams down his drink against the marble of the bar's counter and glowers at them.  
"I come here for the exact reason of not having to deal with fucking idiots. Shut the fuck up."

"You know what, Dabi? I came out here for a good time."

"Yeah Dabi! Stop being such a buzzkill!" Dabi's eyes shift angrily from Toga to Twice, skipping over Hawks.  
"I don't need this shit," Dabi growls as he stands up and sulks out the front door of the hide out, "Later losers." He flips them off and slams the door behind him.

"What crawled up his ass and died?" Twice asks aloud, Toga shrugs before trying to reach for Dabi's unfinished glass. Kurogiri grabs it first and holds it out of her reach, shaking his head in disappointment.

"You know," Hawks turns his attention to Twice, "He's been like that for the past two days." Twice spins slightly in his chair and nods thoughtfully.

"He gets edgy from time to time like 'oh, woe is me!' and 'my life is nothing but darkness!' yadda yadda yadda. I swear Hawks, he's like the perfect poster boy for Hot Topic." Twice's rant is interrupted by Toga's laughter. She hides her smile behind a hand and blinks at them.  
"You two are so funny. I know why he's like that!"

"Why?" Hawks and Twice ask at the same time. Toga starts humming to herself as she takes out a knife and spins it against the marble, ignoring Kurogiri's disapproving mutters.

"It's obvious!"

"Toga, please, we're stupid! We wouldn't know obvious if it hit us in the face." Twice begs Toga, pressing his hands together. Her eyes light up as her smile grows and she sighs happily.

"Mr. Hot Topic poster boy is in love." Hawks feels his stomach drop like it was made out of lead, he feels like as if Shigaraki sneaked up behind him and touched him- he feels as if he's crumbling to pieces.

 _Of course_ Dabi would have a life outside of his job of keeping an eye on Hawks. He should've known. Dabi is a good looking man, no doubt he has a line of admirers just hoping to score a date with him. How could Hawks be so naïve in the fact that Dabi wouldn't have feelings and needs himself?

He curses himself for thinking that there might've been a chance between the two of them.

* * *

He doesn't see Dabi in his apartment when he arrives home, he thinks that's probably for the best and he sighs, sitting down on his sofa that still smells of stale grease. As he turns on his TV, there's a knock at the door. Hawks decides to ignore it. His own mood ruined after the whole Dabi situation earlier in the bar. He figures if it was important- someone would've sent him a text before hand. As he's browsing his games for something to play, the person knocks again.

He curses to himself, looking around the apartment. There's no incriminating evidence that he's housing a villain so he slowly stands up.

"I know you're in there, asshole, let me in!" Of course, who else, none other than Miruko, would decide to pay a house visit?

She bursts through the door as Hawks opens it, he watches her with amusement as she stumbles into the apartment. She turns around and punches him on the shoulder.

"Answer the door faster next time! Dick." She takes a look at his apartment and slowly faces towards him again, sniffing at the air.

"Did you pick up smoking again, Hawks?" He internally face palms. He's grown so used to the smell of smoke, he totally forgot that to someone else- his apartment would smell like a run down bowling alley from all of Dabi's smoking and their shared drinking habits.

"Yeah, I mean- you know how stressful it can get on the job." Her eyes narrow.

"You know that smoking will make your job _harder_ right? It smells like a damn cigarette factory in here. How are you not keeling over dying?" She waves her hand in front of her face and starts opening all of the windows and balcony. A cold breeze whistles through the room and Hawks grumbles to himself as he throws on a hoodie.

"Jesus Hawks- you've really embraced the bachelor life, huh?" She gestures to the old takeout boxes that litter the kitchen counter top and the trash can that's overflowing with beer cans, "When was the last time you've even had a home cooked meal?"

"That word isn't even in my vocabulary. If it ain't dripping in grease, no bueno." Miruko shakes her head.

"Men are disgusting." Hawks raises his hands.

"Whoa, hey there. You're the one that decided to burst into my crib."

"That doesn't make me disgusting though. I mean look!" She waves her hand over the series of cigarette burns marking the wall next to her, "You couldn't even walk five feet to your balcony?" Hawks groans and plops down on the sofa next to her.

"Hey, when my shows are on- I can't miss a thing." She eyes him suspiciously before looking down at the sofa, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Dude, what are all these stains on here... do I even want to know?"

"Oh, yeah, funny story actually." Hawks chuckles, "So you know in those infomercials where they have like a huge bowl of Cheetos and reach over to hang up the phone and totally knock the Cheetos everywhere?" She nods.

"That totally happened to me. I was just so into my game, I didn't notice when I knocked my tub of KFC onto myself. I smelled like chicken for days afterwards." Miruko just stares at him blankly before sighing and rubbing her temples in defeat.

"You're an absolute mad man. You live like a god damned animal."

"Says the rabbit." He shoots her a finger gun and she punches him again.

* * *

Hawks has long since finished his dinner and laying in bed, looking up at the darkened ceiling. Dabi still hasn't come back yet but after learning what Toga told Hawks, he guesses that Dabi is probably with whoever... doing _whatever_. The thought of that tugs at his heart and he clenches his jaw. He can't stop thinking about it though, no matter how many times he screams at his mind to shut up; he can't stop himself from thinking up of different scenarios.

He's so tired and wants to sleep so badly but he can't. Hawks has grown so used to the warm body next to him- now that his bed is empty and cold, sleep refuses to come.

* * *

He's still lying in bed awake when the door creaks open. He turns his head and sees Dabi strolling in with his hands shoved into his pockets. Dabi glances at Hawks and slouches off to the sofa where he plops down.

The silence is insufferable.

"Uh- have a good night?" The clock at Hawks' bedside tells him that it's nearly six in the morning.

"No." Dabi's answer is terse, "It was cold as fuck last night." Hawks sits up and swings his feet over the side of the bed.

"Wait- why were you outside all night?" Dabi slumps further into the sofa and glares over his shoulder at Hawks.

"Because I wasn't about to walk on in here while you had... company over for the night." Hawks tries to process what Dabi is saying and comes up blank.

"I didn't have company over though?" Dabi waves Hawks away and turns around, hiding his face.

"Bullshit. I saw Miruko here." He hisses out and Hawks is taken aback. He's grown so used to Dabi's laid back personality that he's momentarily at a loss of words. Hawks stands up and glares at the back of Dabi's head.

"I don't know what's gotten into you lately but fucking stop dude. It's driving me crazy."

"Fucking stop what? I'm not doing anything." Hawks storms over to the sofa and stands in front of Dabi, both men glower at each other. The tension in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife.

"You're acting all weird!" Dabi massages his temple and closes his eyes with a sigh.

"I should've stayed outside. Jesus, this is so fucking stupid." Hawks wonders if this is a Todoroki specialty, getting someone so frustrated that they want to launch themselves out of the closest window. The still open balcony door does look pretty tempting to Hawks but he knows if he does, Dabi would win the fight.

Hawks refuses to let him win a fight.

"Why would you even stay outside?"

"You really must have a bird brain huh? You had her over here! In case you forgot because apparently your brain is the size of a damn pea, she's a hero. I'm a _villain_ it would either end with her trying to arrest me, or me trying to kill her. Most likely both. Besides," Dabi's eyes dart up to Hawks' for a second before turning downcast. In that brief second, Hawks saw pain in his eyes. "Besides, I... didn't want to see you with her."

"What do you mean see her with m-"

 _Oh_. Hawks finally understands the reason for Dabi's foul mood the past two days. Dabi clicks his tongue and shakes his head, standing up.

"I gotta go. I have a lot of work that Shigaraki wants me to do." Hawks heart starts to pound in his ears and he reaches for the retreating form of Dabi. He pauses, looks over his shoulder and narrows his eyes at Hawks.

"Hawks-" He stares up at the scarred man, engulfed in the beauty of his eyes. Hawks tentatively reaches down and takes a hold of Dabi's hand- reveling in the warmth of his fingers. Dabi doesn't move away and instead looks down at their interlocked hands. Hawks adjusts his own fingers so that his fingers laced between his. He's pleasantly surprised on how soft the unscarred portion of his skin is. They stare down at their joined hands before looking at each other. Dabi's eyes are wide and full of surprise. Hawks can't help but to laugh.

"Oh my god, we're such idiots." Dabi still stands paralyzed- mute with disbelief. Hawks feels his heart beat even fast as he leans closer to Dabi, his breath whispers gently against Hawks' skin, his own breath hitching up. They don't break eye contact as they slowly inch closer. Hawks pauses and drinks in the dangerous beauty of Dabi.

A second ticks by and Hawks closes the distance, their lips meet. He's mesmerized by the softness of Dabi's upper lip and the contrast of his dry and raspy bottom lip. It isn't a bad feeling. Dabi's arms wrap tightly around Hawks torso and Hawks melts into the kiss.

Their kiss grows more ravenous and panicked. The need to be closer to the other, hands wandering and grabbing.

"It's always been you." Dabi murmurs into the crook of Hawks' neck before gently biting him, slowly making his way back up to Hawks' mouth. Dabi slowly backs Hawks up to the bed and pushes him gently down into the mattress.

* * *

Author's Note

Aaaaaaaaa!

That's all I have to say for this chapter.

I wanted to wait longer but I knew that this chapter had to be the one when I was writing it.

Also, a word for future chapters in this story, I won't ever write smut because I suck at it and also there's already like a lot of smut of dabihawks. Things will be implicated but never going into full detail.

That's it for now, until then. Fairwinds.

Reviews are always welcome!


	8. Chapter 8

A dull burn throbs as Hawks weaves his way past his colleagues; he smiles to himself- if it wasn't for the ache, Hawks would've convinced himself that last night had been nothing but another one of his fervor dreams. He's no stranger to the morning smart after a fling, but the burn from Dabi's touch is on a whole new level for Hawks- it leaves him wanting more, _needing_ more.

He flops down on his office chair and shifts around, trying to find a more comfortable position. Hawks finds it nearly impossible to do his paperwork as his mind keeps wondering back to Dabi. He keeps stealing glances at his computer's clock and taps his fingers impatiently against his desk. One hour down, seven more to go.

"Hawks," The receptionist's voice crackles through his intercom, "Endeavor is here to see you." Even Endeavor could not ruin Hawks' good mood. His finger hovers over the button as he pauses. Will he even be able to look Endeavor in the eyes after a particularly busy night he had with the man's estranged son? He supposes he will have to face the hero one way or another. He just hopes that Endeavor keeps this meeting short and sweet. Before he can give the go ahead to send Endeavor to his office- his window slides open.

Hawks spins around and a scarred hand shoots out, covering his mouth before he can let out a startled yelp.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Hawks hisses from behind Dabi's hand. Hawks stares unbelieving at Dabi, his office is on the top floor and unless Dabi launched himself up with his quirk, he must've taken the fire escape. Hawks surmises that would explain why Dabi is covered in sweat and slightly out of breath. The other man shrugs and takes back his hand, leaning against Hawks' desk.

"I had nothing else better to do."

"Nothing better to do? Aren't you a villain? Don't you have like a bank to rob or streets to jaywalk?" Dabi snorts, crossing his arms he shoots Hawks an amused smile.

"Well this is certainly a first, I thought heroes were supposed to tell us bad guys to _not_ do crime. Yet, here we are. You encouraging me to actually do my job." Hawks' wings flutter in panic, he has no idea why of all days, Dabi decides to visit the exact time Endeavor actually agrees to a meeting.

"Hawks." The voice crackles again, now tinged with a hint of irritability, "Are you there?" He blinks several times at the intercom before rushing over to his desk, trying his best to ignore Dabi's touch as his fingers slip through Hawks' feathers.

"Yes, I'm finishing up a report now. You can send him up." He knows he's on a time crunch and turns off the intercom before turning back around to Dabi.

"Okay, you need to leave." All this earns him is an arched eyebrow.

"Oh?" Hawks feels a headache creeping up and he massages his temples.

"Yes. I have a meeting with Endeavor and he's up on his way to my office. Like, right now." Dabi doesn't bat an eye and instead his grin grows into something a little malicious, he cracks his neck and rolls back his shoulders.

"Good." Hawks shakes his head and shoves Dabi towards the window.

"Not today satan, I'm not going to deal with you pulling a reverse Inigo Montoya. I refuse to have my agency become a pile of ash." Trying to move Dabi is like trying to herd a cat. Impossible.

"What?" Hawks momentarily stops pushing against Dabi and stares at him curiously.

"Wait- have you never seen The Princess Bride before?"

"You seem to think that I had an ideal childhood where I could just sit around watching movies all day."

"Okay, well I guess I know what we'll be doing later." Dabi slumps against Hawks with a defeated sigh.  
"Why can't you just let me continue to live like the uncultured swine that I am?" Before Hawks has a chance to reply, a knock at the door catches them both off guard.

"Goddammit, Dabi. You're gonna be the death of me." Hawks whispers angrily, he gives up trying to wrestle with opening the window and instead shoves Dabi under his desk, "I swear, if you so much as make a peep... you'll regret ever being born." Dabi rolls his eyes and flips him the bird.

"Joke's on you, I already do."

"Shut up already you fuckin' edge lord." He sends Dabi a final glare before opening the door to greet Endeavor.

"Ah! Endeavor, what's up?" Endeavor looks around Hawks' office. Hawks prays to whatever entity is up in the sky that Dabi will behave. He clasps Endeavor's arm and gestures to one of the seats in front of his desk.

"Please, sit down." Endeavor shakes off Hawks hand with a huff. Reluctantly, Endeavor sits down on one of the chairs and Hawks watches, with a poker face, as the chair groans from under the weight of Endeavor. His chairs are meant for average sized people. Endeavor certainly isn't an average sized person, Hawks bets that Endeavor even got an offer to play The Mountain from Game of Thrones. He wouldn't even have to act! Hawks thinks, because he's already shitty enough as it is.

Hawks sits down at his own chair and pulls into the desk, careful not to roll over Dabi's fingers. A familiar warm hand grabs hold of Hawks' calf and Hawks finds himself praying again that he'll be able to get through with this meeting without giving away the fact that Dabi- one of Japan's most wanted villains is in the same room as the nation's top two heroes.

"So-" Hawks begins, "What brings you here?" He already knows the answer of course but decides to indulge himself. Endeavor clears his throat and studies Hawks with his sharp eyes.

"I am here to give you my answer." Hawks feels Dabi's fingers tighten as Endeavor replies, "I assume that your manager had already relayed this to you." Hawks leans back against his chair and briefly looks down to meet the stony gaze of the second Todoroki. He brings his attention back to Endeavor with a smile.

"Yup, we had a meeting about that yesterday actually. We were told that you suggested to all of the agencies to team up." Of course Hawks isn't salty about Endeavor taking credit for his idea, why would he ever be bitter about that?

"Well yes, I decided that as Number One Hero it would only be right," It would only be right for Endeavor to be a pile of steaming shit. But hey, to each their own opinions Hawks thinks, "After all, I've been reading all of the Nomu reports your agency sent me while I was in the hospital after I took down High-End. Pairing up would be for the best... for everyone." Claiming all the credit once more, Hawks wants to bash his head against his desk. Had Endeavor forgotten already that without his assistance, Endeavor would most likely be dead?

"Good to see that you came to that conclusion." Endeavor grunts and idly runs his finger over his scar. Hawks wishes that Dabi could see the full extent of the results from the Nomu Dabi sent them two months ago. No doubt Dabi would find it hilarious.

"Yes, I'd hate for more unnecessary hero deaths," Endeavor pauses and looks down at his hands, "Snatch is already too much. We should strive for zero casualties. Once I track down that- that villain that killed him... I'll make him pay with his life. And eye for an eye, as they say. In this case, a death for a death." The hand tightens more against Hawks' leg and he fights to keep a straight face.

"Yeah." He doesn't really know what else to say and thankfully Endeavor continues.

"Regardless, keeping the Nomus back is our main objective. Catching him will only be an added bonus." Endeavor stands up and Hawks follows, "I will be back here tomorrow at six a.m. sharp. I expect you here then as well." He turns heel and marches out of Hawks' office. Oh now he's giving orders, in my own agency? Hawks bitterly thinks to himself. He sighs and slides back his chair, Dabi doesn't move out from under the desk but smirks at Hawks.

"I've always loved the game of cat and bird."

"Uhh, I think you mean cat and mouse." Dabi takes hold and Hawks' legs and pulls the chair closer.

"No, I think 'bird' is better." For the third time in the past hour, Hawks finds himself praying. He prays that no one will barge through his unlocked door as Dabi's hands creep up his thighs.

* * *

"There just isn't any room for people like us in this society. We never asked for this life, yeah. From the day we were born, we were labeled for failure. All we want is a chance to live life easily. Why do we have to constantly fight just to be able to live?" Hawks has been curious for the past month of meeting up with the League and finally decided to ask why had they all decided to become villains in the first place. He was not prepared for Twice's honest answer; he feels a twinge in his heart as he sees Toga and Spinner nodding along to what Twice said.

"Because," Shigaraki answers from his seat, "We're the products of who the heroes couldn't save. Instead of taking responsibility for their failure, they simply just cast us to the side and label us as villains. So we were saved by people who just stood on the opposite side of the coin. I think what you should be asking instead is: what is the difference between a hero and a villain?" He says nothing more as the rest of the League echo in agreement.

What truly is the difference between a hero and a villain? If asked before Hawks agreed to be a double agent, he would've confidently answered with: "Heroes are brave and just, they always make sure to save the day and ensure the villains never win. Villains are nothing but evil doers that thrive off of chaos and pain of others."

However.

However after infiltrating the League and getting to know them Hawks is not so sure of his answer anymore.

How could a hero even be called a hero when they've willingly turned a blind eye against people who needed help the most? How could a villain be called a villain for just trying to survive after being rejected by society? How can the hero system be so skewed in the first place? He wonders what would've happened if he hadn't saved that couple so many years ago. Would he have fallen through the system as well? Would he have been actually part of the League as a villain and not as a hero? Would he have grown up as a murderer, a robber, a drug lord? His eyes land on Dabi who's sitting next to Shigaraki, reading a book- either oblivious to or ignoring the conversation around him.

How could Endeavor even be crowned as Number One Hero after all he put his own family through? He'd expect that action from a villain but a hero?

Hawks comes to the realization that a hero and a villain are truly two sides of the same coin.

* * *

"It's nice to meet you Hawks!" A slight woman stands next to Hawks' boss and bows deeply to him. He awkwardly bows back, he's always hated such formalities. His boss chuckles and gently touches her arm, she straightens out and sticks out a hand. Hawks shakes it and to someone with less observance, they wouldn't have picked up how her eyes widen slightly or the fact that his boss smiles at their handshake.

"She is my intern, learning the trade of management. Please pay her no mind for the time being." She blushes and looks down, refusing to meet Hawks' gaze, "She's a rather big fan of your work so please excuse her unprofessional attitude. We'll get that corrected in due time." He finds himself at a loss for words and just nods to what his boss was telling him.

Hawks can't help but shake the feeling of being watched. He knows that Dabi is out with the League in another district today so there's no way that he's being watched by him. Yet, the feeling doesn't leave.

* * *

Author's Note

Energy drinks have since been banned in my house, my room mates saying "It's bad for your health." and "They're gonna kill you one of these days." or "You're gonna have a heart attack." Jokes on them, I get unlimited coffee at both jobs!

I'm working both jobs this week so updates will be a bit skewed but I'll try to aim for my normal daily updates. If not, please bear with me! Until then, fairwinds.

Reviews are always welcome!


	9. Chapter 9

"Huh. S'pose that wasn't too bad." Dabi watches the screen as the credits roll for The Princess Bride, Hawks smiles down at Dabi whose head is resting in Hawks' lap. He's always been the type to have to constantly fidget and was pleasantly surprised when Dabi had allowed Hawks to play with his hair. Halfway through the movie- Hawks only then realized that he had subconsciously braided half of Dabi's hair in tiny braids. He's moved from braiding Dabi's coarse hair to rubbing small circles on his scalp, relishing in the thickness of the hair. Hawks feels a twinge of jealousy, he's always had really fine hair and would kill for even half the hair that Dabi has.

Dabi gently brings his hand up to his hair and plays with a braid.

"I haven't had braids in my hair since-" He trails off haltingly and the soft smile that was present a second ago slips off, "Since Fuyumi would pretend to be a hairdresser when we were kids." While thankful that Dabi trusts him enough to show his vulnerable side, it still tears at Hawks' heart to see this man continue to shy away from his family. Surely they wouldn't turn him away?

"Why not try to talk to them? How long has it been?" Dabi meets Hawks' worried eyes for a second before turning back to the credits with a huff.

"It's better this way. They don't need someone like me in their life." Hawks' fingers freeze and move down to cup Dabi's cheeks, the scarred area more warm than the rest of his face.

"Don't talk like that." Dabi leans into Hawks' touch but refuses to make eye contact.

"It's the truth though. You know it, I know it, they know it. It would just open up more scars for them. They don't deserve that kind of shit. 'Sides, they probably think I'm dead." Hawks knows that arguing with Dabi will get him nowhere so he stays quiet and goes back to playing with Dabi's hair.

He knows that reconciliation with his siblings will help Dabi but he tells himself that they are making progress. Small, progress- but progress nonetheless. After all, Dabi from two months ago would have never even opened up this much to Hawks.

He knows that they all need closure for what happened.

Maybe not today. Or tomorrow, or even next month.

They'll get there one day.

Maybe it's time to pay Fuyumi a visit.

* * *

Okay, Hawks thinks to himself, this is just a touch awkward. He sits across from Fuyumi in a small cafe near her work. She runs her finger along the rim of her chocolate iced latte, opening her mouth to speak but she seemingly thinks better of it with a shake of her head. Hawks isn't so sure what to say either- he's so grown used to Endeavor's headstrong and Dabi's blunt attitudes. Looking at Fuyumi, she looks like she's one step away from bolting out the cafe like a frightened deer.

Just another product of the abuse she suffered most likely.

"I'm surprised that you want to talk to me. I'm nothing special." She finally looks up from her drink and Hawks finds himself blown back by her words. First Dabi with his thoughts of being a monster and now Fuyumi and her self esteem. Hawks can only wonder how the other two Todoroki siblings fare. Hawks smiles warmly at her before taking a sip from his Italian soda.

"Of course you're special. Everyone is special in their own way!" It's not the best thing to say probably but it puts a small smile on her face. Fuyumi bows her head and takes a long drink of her latte. Wiping away the froth from her lip she sets down her drink and takes in a deep breath.

"How may I help you, Hawks?" If Hawks is to be honest, he never even thought that Fuyumi would agree to a meeting with him. Now he finds himself wondering where to even go from here.

"I just wanted to know how you're doing." Ah, there's the fire behind her eyes that he's grown accustomed to seeing in the Todoroki family. She eyes him curiously and much to Hawks' amusement, quirks up an eyebrow.

"You came all the way across Musutafu just to see how I'm doing?" He sighs, of course there's no beating around the bush with a Todoroki. Diffident or not.

"Well, that's part of the reason I guess," Hawks pauses, gauging her reaction, "I'm actually here for something else." Fuyumi's face masks over. They both find themselves waiting in silence and Hawks decides that he's already here and might as well follow through with his poorly decided plan.

"What happened to your oldest brother." It wasn't a question and the second the words slipped from his mouth, Fuyumi slumps into her chair and pushes a stray red hair strand behind her ear.

"Why?"

"I, uh, well." How can he even say 'I'm here to ask about Dabi because you all need to sort out your past with each other and all of you need the other. If only you could see the hurt that I saw in his eyes when he talked about you yesterday. If only he could see the pain in your own eyes. Damn Todorokis and your poor communication skills.' without outright saying that?

"I'm conducting my own investigation on the disappearance of your brother." Hawks waits with bated breath and mentally high fives himself when Fuyumi nods and takes another drink from her latte- looking slightly less pensive.

"His name was Touya." Her voice is soft and Hawks leans forward to hear her better.

"Was?" She shrugs, taking another drink.

"I don't know what happened to him. He went to bed one night and in the morning, he was just gone."

"And no missing child alert was sent out why?" He gets another shrug from her.

"Hawks- my family is... not the average family. I don't know why there was never a case filed. This happened ten years ago, I was only twelve." Of course she wouldn't know why, Hawks does though.

Touya's disappearance would only addle Endeavor's oh so pristine reputation. If Hawks recalls, he hadn't even really seen anything in the news when Shouto gained his scar and Rei was sent away. This poor family, they deserve much more than what they've been given. He thinks sadly.

"What was he like- Touya?" The name sounds foreign to him, Dabi had never even told Hawks his given name. Not that Hawks can talk- he hadn't revealed his own given name either.

Fuyumi's frown flickers into a nostalgic smile and she sighs.

"He was my hero. He was only a year older than me and before our quirks came in, we were very close. When Natsuo was born a few years later, Touya would parade around with him proud to have a little brother." She giggles softly, "Touya was always a little trouble maker though. He would always sneak into the kitchens to steal extra dessert for all of us. After getting caught the first few times, he would come up with more and more ridiculous ways to get into the kitchens." Hawks laughs at this, he can definitely see a younger more brazen version of Dabi breaking into a kitchen in the middle of the night like he's a secret agent. She continues to share some childhood memories with Hawks- to his pleasant surprise. He also learns a very interesting fact about Dabi's quirk.

His flames may be hotter than Endeavor's but his body can't even handle the heat. Images of Dabi as a young child being forced to push his quirk to being more and more powerful while consequently burning himself alive makes Hawks see red. this new information is just another strike against Hawks' previous role model. Shigaraki's question echo through his mind. He's finding the line between hero and villain awfully blurred lately.

As they stand up to go in their separate direction, she takes a hold of his arm. Instead of warmth like from her brother's touch- Fuyumi's hands are nearly ice cold.

"Hawks," She looks up at him, her eyes full of determination, "I may not be special and I may not have a very powerful quirk but." The grip on his arm tightens.

"I can tell when someone is holding something back. I work with children for a living. You don't have to tell me why but, just- just tell him that we miss him." Fuyumi's eyes start to water and she blinks the tears away, "And that we're sorry."

* * *

Author's Note

This chapter is a little shorter because things are going to start amping up and I feel like the contents of this chapter wouldn't fit in with what I have planned. Also, I didn't want to take the spot light away from Fuyumi. I love her.

Fuyumi can totally see when people are bullshitting her. I was always a trouble maker back when I was a teenager, a hell's spawn to be honest, but I'll be damned if my teachers didn't catch me on my own bullshit lol. That's it for now. Until then, fairwinds.

Reviews are always welcome!br /


	10. Chapter 10

"Hawks, let me say, we are so excited to have you here with us today!" Hawks grins and looks out to the crowd, the bright spot lights momentarily blinds him.

"It's great to be here Uwabami!" He turns his attention back to the hostess behind the desk and she offers a smile of her own, the snakes in her hair swaying slightly. The crowd starts to cheer and she laughs.

"Now, Hawks. I understand that recently you and Endeavor have teamed up. That must be quite a force to be reckoned with!" Hawks rubs the back of his neck, hoping that the cameras can't pick up on how much he's sweating. He has no idea how Uwabami can tolerate the sweltering heat from all the lights and equipment but he has to give her props for it. Maybe she uses them as heat lamps, he doesn't know how snake-y she is and figures that would probably be a rude question to ask. Maybe, like Hawks, she's just been conditioned to deal with it. Fake it till you make it, Hawks thinks bitterly.

"We're the dream team!" He hopes that Dabi isn't watching this interview.

"By now, we've all seen what happened in Kyushu. Tell me, what was going through your mind during the attack?"

As the minutes tick by, he easily answers Uwabami's questions. His hour is almost up if the clock on her desk is anything to go by. A smile appears on her red painted lips and she taps the desk with one of her perfectly manicured nails.

"I've just one more question for you Hawks."

"Shoot away!" Uwabami leans over the desk, resting her chin against a palm, giving him her best smile.

"None of us can deny that you're a looker," Her eyes flick over his body and he inwardly sighs- knowing where this is going. "So a question for all of your admirers and your fans, have you been seeing anyone?" Have I been seeing anyone? He thinks to himself, what an odd way to phrase it. Before he has a chance to answer, Uwabami continues.

"It's been brought to my attention that there's been a few gossip forums that have been posting... rather interesting theories."

"Oh?" He's honestly at a loss for words and his heart feels like it's about to hammer its way out of his chest. She nods sympathetically.

"Yes. There's also this photo that's been circulating around the internet these past couple of days." The screen behind them shows an enlarged photo of Hawks walking down a street with an ice cream cone in one hand and a chicken sandwich in the other. A large hand drawn circle with three exclamation points brings his attention to a love bite peeking out from under his shirt. He mentally kills Dabi and wishes death for himself. He starts to laugh.

"Oh! That?" He waves his hand dismissively, "That was just a bruise from a fight with a villain earlier in the week!" Hawks turns to the crowd and shoots them a thumbs up.

"There you have it everyone! Your favorite hero is still on the market- just ready to have his feet swooped out from under him!" He laughs with the rest of the audience but on the inside feels disgusted for being exploited like this. He's a hero not an idol and in his humble opinion he shouldn't have to have his personal life aired out like this.

Just another tally against the system.

* * *

"So," Dabi's smooth voice cuts through the comfortable silence as his fingers run through Hawks' wings, "I hear you're on the market." Hawks shoots a glare over his shoulder.

"You saw that?" Dabi chuckles and buries his face in the crook of Hawks' neck, his breath warm against Hawks' skin.

"Oh yeah, the rest of the League too. Shigaraki got a kick on how many bullets you were sweating." Hawks brings up a hand and threads it through Dabi's hair.

"Did you defend my honor?" He hears a snort and Hawks rolls his eyes.

"Nah, it was too funny. He was doing these really shitty impressions of you."

"Wow, you know what, bitch? I don't even have words for you."

"Good. I can finally enjoy some fucking peace and silence." Hawks knocks his head against Dabi's.

"You'd miss my amazing commentary." All he gets back is an 'eh.' He suddenly remembers something and disentangles himself from Dabi, earning a growl from him. Hawks flits across the small apartment and digs through his closet. He returns back to the sofa, holding something behind his back with a grin, wings fluttering in excitement. Dabi narrows his eyes suspiciously at him.

"I heard from a little bird that you'll be doing some sort of top secret mission for the League and will be out of town for a while," He feels his grin grow wider as Dabi's frown furrows.

"Where did you hear that?" Hawks shakes his head and tells him that he would never betray the trust of his friends by ratting them out. Oh the irony of actually being a double agent. A double crosser. He will be nothing but the blade in their back in the unforeseeable future.

He tries to ignore the weighted feeling.

"I know how much you like having me around-"

"Bullshit. I don't need you." Hawks takes a step closer and waggles his eyebrows at him.

"Mm, that wasn't what you were saying last night." Dabi reaches forward and grips Hawks by his thighs, pulling him between Dabi's legs and buries his face in Hawks' stomach.

"I only keep you around for your ass." His voice is muffled and Hawks laughs.

"Glad to know that's the only reason why I'm kept around." He stares down at Dabi and- *god* he loves him so much. How did he allow himself to get so wrapped up in this? So involved in what was supposed to be a simple mission? A wave of guilt washes over him as he thinks about the dwindling time they have together before everything will be revealed to Dabi.

When he finds out that the truth, that everything was just based on a lie.

Except it isn't. Was it ever really a lie to begin with? He doesn't know anymore.

All he knows is that he's in too deep now, Dabi is like a drug. A delicious drug that Hawks can never get enough of.

"Well, I might also keep you around for your voice, pretty bird." Hawks wraps his wings around the both of them and reveals in the warmth. They stay still for a few quiet moments, allowing each other to be lost in thought. Hawks finally pulls away and finds himself lost in the blue hue of Dabi's eyes.

"Anyway! So you won't get lonely while you're gone." He hands Dabi a small box that's wrapped with black gift wrap with a thin sapphire ribbon pulled into a delicate bow. Dabi says nothing as he carefully opens the box. His eyebrows shoot up as he pulls out a small plushie of Hawks.

"It's from my new line!"

"Thanks, I hate it." Hawks fluffs up his feathers and sits down next to Dabi.

"Please, we both know you love it." Dabi side glances him with a smile before gently setting down the plushie.

"Maybe." Pulling himself closer to Hawks, "I'd really rather have you though." Hawks laughs as Dabi starts to pepper him with kisses.

* * *

Hawks finds himself in bed- alone. He rolls over to look at Dabi's side of the bed and feels empty. All around him are reminders of the scarred man. He pulls the pillow Dabi uses and hugs it to his chest, it's going to be a long week he thinks to himself as he falls into a light and restless dream.

* * *

"Damn! You look like shit!"

"Thanks Sherlock." He grumbles as he curls up at the end of his sofa, wrapping the blanket closer against himself. Miruko leans against the wall with a look of worry.

"Everything okay? Fight with lover boy?" Hawks sighs and looks down at his phone. Wherever Dabi was heading to for the week- he was instructed to leave his phone behind. Just three days in and Hawks already ate all of his ice cream tubs.

It's at times like these that he wishes that he had taken some pictures with Dabi but that would be a bad move if his phone happened to get lost or stolen. He could just imagine the backlash from that.

Instead, he finds small comfort in knowing that in his dreams- Dabi waits for him.

"No, he's just away on a business meeting."

"Well, at least I don't have to go and hunt him down for hurting you."  
"You don't even know him." Her rabbit ears twitch and she pushes herself off from the wall, sitting next to him she wraps a muscular arm around him, bringing him into a crushing hug.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Look, it's really complicated." Complicated is probably an understatement. Miruko barks out a laugh and slaps Hawks' back.

"Have you _seen_ my list of exes? Just 'bout the only thing that could get more complicated than that is if you're dating a villain!" He doesn't join in with her laughter and her ruby eyes widen.

"Hawks..." He still says nothing as he hides his face with his hands.

"Jesus, say it ain't so, Joe." Hawks just groans and peeks over at her from between her fingers.

"I'm really fucking stupid- huh?"

"You're beyond stupid! You're the Number Two Hero and here you are bangin' a fuckin' villain?!" He says nothing but shrinks into his sofa.

"Hawks," Miruko says slowly, "Who is he?" This time he does laugh, out of nervousness.

"So..."

"Just say it. You're my best friend- I won't judge. I mean, at this point of already getting it on with a villain, I don't think there's much else you can surprise me with."

"It's Dabi." She blinks a couple of times.

"The one who was in Kyushu."

"Yeah."

"The one who tried to _kill_ you and Endeavor?"

"What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment?" She wrinkles her nose.

"Totes did not need to know that. But seriously, that Dabi?"

"That's the one." Miruko shakes her head in disbelief.

"He's just so... _ugly_ though." She deadpans and Hawks frowns into his hands.

"Well, _I_ think he's handsome."

"Oh honey. Either you were dropped as an egg or became blind because that man looks like some sort of Frankenstein shit."  
"Excuse me, it's Frankenstein's _monster_. Get it right." With an exasperated sigh, Miruko rolls her eyes.

"I'm assuming that when you said business meeting, you meant wreaking havoc to the public, terrorizing citizens and having the time of his life brûléeing heroes?"

"Probably." She pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head.

"But like, how did you two even become a thing? Going from enemies to lovers seems like some sort of shitty fan fiction trope."

"I know, it's complicated as fuck. I don't even know where to begin or how it even started to be honest."

Hawks tells her what he feels comfortable with. Completely omitting his reason for even having to reach out to villains in the first place. Towards the end of his story, Miruko nods sagely.

"Y'know, it makes more sense. I knew that you weren't this much of a slob. How does it even work though?" Hawks pats her shoulder and gives his best smile.

"Well when two men love each other they g-" She whaps his on his arm and shakes her head.

"No! The hell, not about that shit. I meant, with you being a hero and him a villain." Hawks shrugs. Not really knowing the answer to her question.

"We just take it day by day."

"I still think you're stupid as shit for doing this, but-" She pauses and grins, "I've seen how happy you've been lately. Love is love. Even if your situation is kinda fucked up."

"You won't say anything?"

"Who do you think I am? Some sort of snitch? Bitch please, we've been best friends for years. I'm not going to stand in the way of what makes you happy. Just don't get burnt in the process."

"I'll be fine! He would never hurt me. But thanks Miruko, for everything." She brings him into a hug and ruffles his hair.

"What are friends for?! Just letting you know though, if he does hurt you. I won't hesitate to absolutely kick his face in." Her red eyes glimmer and he nods, knowing she'll not only take his secret to the grave but also hold her promise true if anything were to happen.

* * *

"Miss me?" Hawks vaults over the sofa, flapping his wings to gain momentum and crashes into Dabi.

"You said it was only going to be a week you asshole!" Dabi's arms wraps around Hawks and the familiar warmth of his body relaxes Hawks as he melts into his embrace.

"What can I say, villains aren't the best at time management." Hawks cups Dabi's face between his hands and draws him into a long kiss.

"I've been so _lonely_." Dabi hikes Hawks up and pins him up against the wall.

"I suppose I could do something to fix that." He murmurs into Hawks' ear as he reaches for his belt buckle.

* * *

Author's Note

Guys, it's official. Only one more chapter until this first part of the series is complete!

Until then, fairwinds.

Reviews are always welcome!


	11. Chapter 11

Hawks finds himself lost in thought as he lies sprawled out on his sofa, legs entangled with Dabi's. He runs his fingers over the buttons of the remote and sighs.

"Don't think too hard, bird brain. Wouldn't want you to scramble your brain." Dabi's voice breaks Hawks away from his day dream and sticks his tongue out at him.

"Says the one who looks half fried."

"It's a fashion statement."

"You look like overcooked bacon." A pillow hits Hawks square in the face and he starts to laugh, "Can't handle the truth I see."

"Maybe you should join me in the breakfast club then, I'll turn you into some scrambled eggs." Hawks shakes his head and looks over at Dabi, who's trying, and failing, to hide a grin.

"Okay, first. Have you even seen the Breakfast Club? Second, that doesn't even make sense. How would I turn into scrambled eggs? I have wings, not an egg quirk." Dabi leans over and draws Hawks into a hug.

"Let's not delve into technicalities."

"I mean, you could cook me with eggs. Maybe a quiche? Quiches are good, they go great with bacon." Dabi's warm chest rumbles against Hawks as he hums, "Or like maybe a frittata. Oh, Dabi, you know what really sounds good right now?"

"You being quiet for once?" Hawks pulls away from Dabi and gently hits him with one of his wings.  
"No. Denny's." Dabi glances over at the clock above Hawks' television and smirks at Hawks.

"At three in the morning?" Hawks stands up and stretches, the tips of his wings brush against the ceiling and he makes a note to himself to get a place with vaulted ceilings once his lease runs up. He wonders if Dabi would officially move in with him or if they would just continue with their current arrangements.

Now that Hawks actually thinks about it, Dabi would really never be able to have his name on a lease. In domestic moments like this, he always forgets that they can really be nothing more than each other's dirty secrets.

"Dabi, my bro. That's the best time to go to Denny's. C'mon, let's go. I'll pay." Dabi sighs and peels himself from his spot on the sofa and pulls on one of Hawks' jackets, much to his satisfaction of seeing Dabi in his clothes.

"Don't wanna do another dine 'n' dash?"

"I'm a hero. I still can't believe you made me do that."

"That's what happens when you forget your wallet. I have a reputation to uphold, what would people think if I paid for something?" Hawks locks the door behind them and they make their way down the quiet hallway.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a self respecting human being?" One of Dabi's hands slithers around Hawks' waist and pulls him closer.

"Self respecting, huh," He chuckles, "That's a good one."

* * *

Hawks stands on top of a building, enjoying the feeling of the wind whipping around him. He stares down at the city before him and a small frown tugs at the corner of his mouth.

He can't help but to bring his thoughts back to the night before. He's always been the type to brag about his partner- but now he suddenly finds that he can't. No matter how much he's bursting from the inside to tell the whole world, he can't.  
In a way, it breaks his heart. He knows that Dabi deserves some sort of recognition for what he's endured. For both of their safety though, things have to remain on the down low.

Besides Miruko, he doesn't even know if the League knows. He's sure Toga probably has sniffed around and knows something is up between the two of them. Nothing escapes Shigaraki's observant gaze, maybe that's why Shigaraki has been acting extra... intense lately Hawks mulls over.

He spreads his wings and takes off, the wind whistles between his feathers as he glides over a small park. He waves at some kids and one of them shouts out to him to do a barrel roll. Of course he complies- earning cheers from them as they jump with happiness.  
This is why he continues to be a hero. Not because of the unnecessary popularity polls, the ridiculous rumors, bloodthirsty paparazzi or the mundane talk shows that ask the same question every time.

No.

Heading out and bringing smiles to people's faces and actually going out to help those in need is the real reason to be a hero. Hawks may have never held All Might as one of his role models as a child but he can't deny that the retired hero had a true heart and the right ideas when he was on the force. An actual true hero Hawks thinks as he flies back to his office.

He spies a folded piece of paper on the floor of his office and he picks it up, curious on who left a note for him.

 _I know everything._

 _If you want to get out of this unscathed, meet me at the lake after work._

 _Don't tell or bring anyone._

 _I will know._

Hawks feels his heart plummet and his hands start to shake. How could anyone know? He's been so careful. A cold wave of panic washes over him as he numbly sits down at his desk. Only one way to find out.

To meet this person and see what they want.

* * *

His wings flutter irritably as he faces the lake and takes in a deep breath, watching the air puff out in front of him. He feels sick, since reading the note- his stomach has been doing flips and twists and all he wants is to lie down and forget the rest of the world exists outside of his apartment.

"Hello." A soft and timid voice startles him and he turns around to see his boss's intern.

"You?" She nods and twists her hands nervously, refusing to make eye contact.

"Um, I suppose I should explain my quirk first. When I make physical contact with someone, I can see everything that they've done in the past twenty four hours." She pauses with a blush. He stares at her incredulously and then it hits him like a ton of bricks. The first time he met her was the morning after he and Dabi slept together for the first time. He feels his cheeks heat up and he turns to the side with a cough.

"Oh jesus."

"I should also say that that's the reason why I was taken on as an intern. Your boss seemed to think that you were, uhh, withholding information from him." Hawks wishes that he had a bench to sit down on, but beggars can't be choosers and slowly sits down on the ground. Hands covering his face. He hears the leaves under the intern's shoes crunch as she shifts uncomfortably.

"I didn't tell him anything though."

"Why would you wait this long to tell me?" He mutters from behind his hands.

"People have been keeping a close eye on me. Probably to make sure something like this doesn't happen." His face shoots up from his face and stares at her with wide eyes.

"Did anyone follow you?" She looks around and shakes her head.

"I don't see anyone that looks familiar."

"Then how are you able to be here?" She smiles at him.

"Easy. I asked Miruko to help!" Her smile falters, "I'm sorry if the note sounded ominous but I needed to get your attention and to take it seriously."

"Well you definitely got my attention. So whatcha want?" She cocks her head to the side before smiling again, he notes with a hint of sadness.

"I don't want anything from you Hawks. I just have some advice for you. You need to stop seeing him, your job and maybe even your life is on the line. Is it really worth it? I don't want to see you crash and burn because of this. Please, for your own safety, just stop." Hawks stands up, nearly towering over the slight woman. He shakes his head.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that." She dips her head with a frown.

"I see."

* * *

"Look, I'm just saying- maybe it's time to find a different place? We could change our names and no one would ever know." Dabi sits on his bed and crosses his arms.

"Somehow, I don't think that'll work, everything about you screams for attention. Plus, you got your job and the League would never just let us up and leave." Hawks paces in front of Dabi and lets out a huff.

"They could open up a second headquarters!"

"I doubt Shigaraki would be down for that." Hawks runs his hands through his hair and starts to pace faster. Dabi stands up with a sigh and grabs Hawks gently by the shoulders.

"What's going on? You're acting like a chicken with its head cut off." Hawks takes a moment to stare into Dabi's eyes and gathers the taller man into a tight hug, tears threatening to spill.

"Something happened at work. We need to leave. Please." Dabi stiffens and Hawks grabs a fistful of his shirt, twisting it.

"One of the interns at work... she can see the past and she knows."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"She didn't tell anyone."  
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Hawks noticed long ago that when Dabi gets angry, he doesn't yell like most people do. Instead, he gets quieter. Right now, his voice is barely above a whisper and Hawks feels that panic from earlier in the day set in again.

"Dabi, please." He shoves Hawks away and grips the side of his head with both scarred hands, Dabi walks away.

"Please what? We should've never fucking done this shit to begin with."

"You don't mean that." Dabi says nothing but shoots Hawks a look over his shoulder that's so full of hurt and fear, Hawks can feel his heart about to break into two just from that look alone.

"Hawks I-" He doesn't give Dabi enough time to finish his sentence, he closes the distance between the two of them and gently pries his hands away from his head. Hawks cups one of Dabi's cheeks and Dabi leans into his touch, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.

"I hear Hawai'i is good during this time of year." Dabi snorts and kisses Hawks on the forehead.

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with Hawai'i. It's expensive as fuck, why not somewhere a little more reasonable like Florida?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I have a major fear of alligators?"

"I'd protect you from those over grown lizards." Hawks leans in closer towards Dabi, resting his head against his shoulder.

"My hero."

"Don't let an-" A knock at the front door cuts Dabi off and they stare at the door in silence.

"Hawks! Open up." A booming voice commands, "We have the place surrounded." Before either men could move, the door is kicked open and a handful of law enforcers file into the small apartment. The woman in the middle coldly glares at them.

"Hawks, you are under arrest for insubordination and for fraternizing with the enemy." Two police officers roughly grab at Dabi as a different officer moves towards Hawks. Dabi starts to struggle against the two officers as they try to put the quirk cancellation handcuffs on him.

For a short second, they make eye contact and Dabi looks away. A flash of brilliant blue fills the apartment and a wave of scorching heat follows.

Hawks shouts of pain add to the surprised yells of the officers; he reaches out his hand, blindly feeling for Dabi, smoke veiling his sight. He struggles to breathe from the thick smoke and the azure flames start climbing along the walls of his apartment. He feels his skin start to blister and the feathers in his wings begin to burn from the hungry fire.

Hawks' head starts to pound and he falls to the ground, desperate for any pocket of clean air. He feels himself starting to choke as he continues to look for the other man. His eyes sting and with little energy he has left, he sends some of his remaining feathers to take the officers and whoever might still be in the building to safety.

In his blurred vision, he sees a fuzzy silhouette- dark against the blinding sea of blue flames, approach him. He's effortlessly picked up and Hawks feels the rough textures of Dabi's scars.

"Touya." He mumbles into the crook of his neck. His vision starts to darken quickly as the man carries him out of a broken window.

His last thought is that he finally found the answer to his age old query: He may have flew too close to his personal sun, but he sure as hell doesn't regret a thing.

* * *

Author's Notes

*Insert surprised Pikachu reaction image here*

Wow! I'm so happy but so sad that this story is over, it's bittersweet. Thank you so much for reading this story and just for everything in general! Everyone's comments helped encourage me to continue to write this and I really can't wait to write the second part of the story!

Thank you so much again!


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